


Last Dance

by gerardsjuarez



Category: Blink-182, The Used
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Original Character(s), Prom, Skateboarding, wlw side ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:14:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29526921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gerardsjuarez/pseuds/gerardsjuarez
Summary: “I said,” he took the pillow away from his face briefly enough to say, “He makes me feel wanted.”“There it is.” She giggled, “He makes you feel wanted.”After Tom gets expelled from his old school, he's forced to move to a different town and start a new school halfway through his senior year. And all thanks to some teenage pricks at a skatepark, he makes friends with Mark. What he doesn't realize is that making friends with Mark also means being plunged headfirst into the middle of some high school level drama.
Relationships: Tom DeLonge/Mark Hoppus
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	Last Dance

**Author's Note:**

> once again, thanks to the tomarkies group chat. it's been a long time coming. feel free to offer constructive criticism in the comments, i'm always looking for ways to improve :)

Tom hit the pavement. Bad. 

He’d fallen off of higher rails and skidded down rougher ramps but he’d somehow managed to fall off the side of the half pipe and land next to it. On all fours. Like God was mocking him. His hands were definitely scraped and maybe his knees were but his pants definitely ripped. With a groan, he sat back and looked up to see if anyone had noticed him fall. 

Fuck. Everyone had.

In short, Tom was new in town and he loved skating. He just wasn’t terribly good at it. 

He had the enthusiasm and motive but the execution… not so great. But he was getting better with each day he dusted off his board, flipped off the sky, and headed to the nearest staircase. But it wasn’t as if the kids skating at the park knew all of that or would even consider it. Tom had barely unpacked all his shit at home, much less made himself known in the local skatepark. Well, until now.

The kids around him were maybe 15 and were definitely snickering at him. He hated sophomores. He hated 15 year olds. He hated 15 year old sophomores at skateparks the most. He got up, brushed himself off, and went searching for his board. 

“Hey, uh-” He started, about to ask the crowd of kids if anyone saw where his board went when one of them said:

“Dude, you skate like a girl.” 

Tom’s face scrunched up in distaste but he was quick to counter with, “You know, I hear some girls are actually-”

“God, shut up. Are you gay or something?” 

Wow. Okay. He didn’t snap at them like he wanted to but instead just sighed, clenched his jaw, and forced a smile.

The kid talking had a red mohawk and the back of his skate deck had some airbrushed tits on it. They weren’t even big tits. He looked stupid.

“Your skate deck is stupid,” Tom told him.

“Yup. A fag.” The kid said in a sing-song voice.

He was being unoriginal. But, he could play at that game, “I’m not gay, actually. But your dad is. I should know, I blew him last night.”

Mohawk Kid handed his board to someone beside him and started toward Tom, “You shut the fuck up about my dad!”

Tom wasn’t willing to fight but if he had to, he would. He lifted his chin and fisted his hands at his sides, ready for conflict. But nearly last second, some dude stood between them, holding Tom’s board. He was probably closer to Tom’s age than the other kids at the park. 

“I think this is yours.” He handed it over to Tom with an apologetic smile.

He looked over his shoulder to see Mohawk Kid going back over to his friends, ripping his board from another kid’s hands and going over to the halfpipe, his posse on his tail. 

“They’re not always like that but that was still pretty fucking rude.” The guy shrugged and started walking over to the fence that lined the park. For whatever reason, Tom followed, “This place is pretty cool to skate at but not really around this time. After five is usually when I come here since that’s the time they have to be home for dinner.”

The guy laughed and Tom did, too, albeit nervously.

“So, yeah. Sorry about your board.” He gestured to it and up until then, Tom hadn’t noticed the slurs written on it in Sharpie.

Tom sighed, “Could be worse. They could’ve snapped it in half.”

“That is true. You’re acting pretty calm about all this.” The guy pointed out.

With a shrug, he said, “I can always paint over it. I’d be pissed if they carved into it.”

“Yeah.” He agreed. He nodded at Tom’s hands, “You okay?”

Tom flexed his right hand, looking at the scrape. It was an easy fix and it didn’t hurt too bad. Just stung. If he rode home now and cleaned it, he was nearly positive it would scab overnight. He could imagine it now; he’d be bored at work, picking at his palms until they bled again. 

“I’ve had worse.” 

It was true. He’d broken several fingers one time. Had to write with his left hand for  _ weeks _ .

“Dude, you’re either lying to me or you’re really this passive.” He chuckled, “What’s your name?”

He wiped the blood off on his ruined jeans. His mom was so going to kill him.

“Tom.”

“Well, Tom. How about I ride home with you to make sure those asshats don’t follow you?” He suggested, “And I’m Mark, by the way.”

He bit his lip, looking over at the kids on the other side of the park. His mom would probably be glad he actually made a friend of some sorts. Even if it was with a guy with spiky hair and shorts that hung so low on his hips they looked like they’d fall off any moment. And maybe she’d go less hard on him if she knew there was a witness to his injured jeans.

“Sure.” 

Why this guy was being so nice to him, he didn’t know. And didn’t care. Anything to get those asswipes off his… well off his ass. They left the park and Tom led the way back to his house, feeling awkward. He’d expected to make friends with his new coworkers, not some random dude at the skatepark. Okay, well, that was one of the reasons he was there, to try and… oh, he didn’t know - find community? It was his fucking fault for getting kicked out of school and having to adjust to a whole new situation. He’d probably find another way to fuck it up again, though. He tried not to think about it.

“So,” Mark started conversation, “Are you like… new to the area?”

Tom appreciated the rough small talk and hated it all the same. But what the fuck else would they talk about? Aliens? He sighed, “Yes and no. Got kicked out of school, had to start a new one. Be lucky if I graduate on time. Moved to the next town over, basically. I’ve lived in Cali all my life.”

“I could tell that much.” He moved off the sidewalk to skate next to Tom on the road. He was totally doing these little tricks to impress him but Tom didn’t mind, “What’d you do to get kicked out?”

“Got caught with beer on school property. Wasn’t even drunk. Just holding one.” He grumbled, avoiding a crack in the cement.

“No shit.” Mark looked almost impressed.

He shrugged, “Yeah. It’s bullshit.”

There was another awkward silence. Tom usually wasn’t a man of so few words but his fucking hands hurt - his  _ body  _ hurt and he just wanted to get home and wash the blood off of his palms. Maybe listen to that new record he got a few days ago and never got the chance to open it up and actually  _ listen  _ to it. He sped up a little and Mark matched his pace. When he looked over, he had a grin on his face.

“Are you trying to race me?” Tom asked, a smile of his own pulling at the corner of his mouth.

“Can’t exactly race you to a house I don’t know.” He replied, cool as ever.

He knew that game, though, and pointed to the end of the street, “It’s the yellow one.”

“On the corner?” Mark strained his neck to see.

He nodded, “Yeah.”

“Well, that changes everything, then.” He said and sped up, looking over his shoulder at Tom.

“H-hey!” He laughed, gaining on Mark.

It was close.  _ Okay _ , Mark totally won but Tom would’ve beaten him if he hadn’t popped up onto the sidewalk last second and stopped in front of the house. He’d nearly ran into him but managed to avoid him by turning into the driveway, missing him by an inch at the most. He was out of breath. Mark was out of breath, too, staring up at the house. Tom followed his gaze to the attic window and rolled his eyes. His mom shut the curtains quickly as soon as she made eye contact with her son. Typical. Mark looked over at Tom and gestured to the house, like a question. He just shrugged. Sometimes his mom was weird.

“So, I totally won,” Mark said.

Tom scoffed, running a hand through his hair, “Only because you  _ totally _ cut me off!”

“A win is a win, man.” He put up his hands but his shit-eating grin didn’t look all that apologetic.

“I’m like so crippled, dude. I should’ve won by default.” He put his hands out, palms upright.

That made Mark laugh, “Scrapped hands aren’t crippled. And even if you were, it wouldn’t be a fair win if I went easy on you.”

“I-” He stuttered, looking for a comeback. When nothing came to mind, he put his hands at his sides, “Whatever.”

“And he accepts defeat.” He teased, walking over to Tom. He held out his fist and when Tom didn’t do anything, he said, “Your knuckles aren’t scrapped, dude.”

“Oh.” He bumped Mark’s fist with his own, weakly.

“I better head back but it was cool to meet you, Tom. You should stop by the skatepark again. Who knows, maybe you’ll win the next race.” 

This guy was  _ not _ real, seriously. If he was a chick, that would’ve been a line. But before Tom could even say goodbye or for Mark to fuck off or both, he was skating off back to the park. As soon as he turned the corner, the door to his house opened and out stepped his sister, of all people. Tom walked over and tried to brush past her but she caught sight of how he was holding his board.

“What’s wrong with your hands?” She asked.

“Nothing’s wrong.” He lied and didn’t make it to his room before she yelled to their mom.

“Mom! Tom got hurt!” She snickered, going into her own room.

He sighed, a big long ‘fuck you’ to his sister and to the world, and let his mom fuss over his hands and ask a million questions about the spiky-haired boy, if they were friends, if he was a sex offender - the usual BS. 

It was totally weird, though. He hadn’t even made the decision in his head yet but he knew that around 5 pm tomorrow, he’d be back at that skatepark with Mark.

…

It took Tom all of two seconds to find Mark the next day. He was sitting against the chain-link fence with some other dude, watching a group of guys on the halfpipe. With his board under his arm, he walked over to Mark. He caught the other dude’s attention first and he smacked Mark’s arm, gesturing to Tom. When he turned to look, a look of surprise was on his face.

“Tom, hey! Wasn’t actually expecting you to show up.” He stood up and bumped his fist, mindful of the new bandages.

The other guy had stood up, too, and was looking over Mark’s shoulder, “What’s with the gauze, man?”

“Uh.”

He considered telling him all about the fight he’d had with his mom the night before about making friends at skateparks and wearing the right protective gear and how he kept reopening the wounds on his palms because he couldn’t not use his hands but in the end, he decided against it.

“Just fell.” He said.

“Looks bad.”

“This is Travis.” Mark turned and pushed him forward so he wasn’t behind him anymore.

“Hi,” Travis said. 

This dude was short.

Mark said, “And that’s Tom.”

“Hey,” Tom said.

And had a fuck ton of tattoos.

“I know.” 

“You know?” Tom asked before he could stop himself.

“Mark makes a new friend and the whole town knows about it.” His laugh was quiet and he didn’t react much when Mark punched his arm, “What, you want me to lie to him?”

“Lie by omission!” Mark scoffed.

“Whatever, dude,” Travis said and sat back down pushing a rogue skateboard back toward the group nearby.

Mark looked all kinds of embarrassed and a bit pissed off so Tom cleared his throat and said, “I don’t care, y’know.”

“You don’t?” He asked, confused.

He shrugged, “Look, if it helps, I had to tell my mom about you last night because I have like zero friends here. They’re all back in my old town. It’s kinda pathetic.”

“Not even friends from work or school?” 

Tom shook his head, “Nah, man.”

“That’s kinda pathetic.” He looked like he was trying not to laugh.

“I fucking told you, Mark.” He laughed and put his skateboard down, “Wanna skate or what?”

“Right,” Mark looked over to Travis who rolled his eyes and handed him his board, “Thanks, Trav.”

“Weird fucking babysitting job.” He mumbled and Tom pretended he didn’t hear it.

He knew he looked about seven years younger than he actually was, he accepted it by that point. Making friends in a new town was weird and he wished the awkward ‘I barely know you’ part was over with so he had someone to set off fireworks with at his old principal’s house. He didn’t even know if Mark was like that. But he was following Tom to the other side of the park where there were less people and more flat ground. 

“So. I think now is when I tell you I’m not that great.” Tom said, scratching his head.

Mark sort of circled him on his board where he was standing still, “So what? You got a board, that’s a start.”

“You… you’re fine with that?” He asked.

He scoffed, grinning, “Duh, dude. You think those guys back there just picked up their boards and were able to do that?”

“Well -  _ no  _ but-”

“No buts!” He laughed and sort of tripped, landing on his feet unsteadily. Tom stopped his skateboard with his foot and kicked it back toward him, like Travis had done earlier, “See? Even long time skaters fuck up from time to time.”

“Did you do that on purpose?” He scowled.

“I was distracted by your beautiful eyes.” He raised his voice a few pitches and batted his eyelashes for good measure. 

Tom wasn’t used to the teasing being done at him, “Uh, I…”

“I didn’t do it on purpose, God.” He huffed and started circling him again, “What do you suck at?”

“Ramps.” He said automatically, “It’s what I fucked up on last time.”

“I saw that whole thing, man, it looked like the invisible man pushed you off the side.” Mark said, “Big ass ramps aren’t great to start on if you aren’t used to them. So what can you do?”

“I got good balance and that kind of shit. Maybe an ollie if I try hard enough.” He crossed his arms.

He wasn’t being judged but he felt like he should be which made him feel all gross and shit. Mark was actually being really nice and offering helpful advice, he didn’t know why he was acting the way he was. The word insecure popped into his head and he scoffed at the idea. He was  _ not _ insecure.

“Could you do one now?” He looked Tom up and down.

Okay, maybe a little insecure.

“Probably… probably not.” He chuckled nervously.

“Try.” Mark commanded, “What's the worst that’ll happen? You’ll fail? Try again.”

Tom thought it over and decided he was being ridiculous. With a huff, he nodded. There was a moment’s hesitation where he thought about going home and forgetting about the whole making friends thing but then he did it. First try.  _ What _ the  _ fuck _ \- that had never happened before. The universe or God or some green dude in space totally had his back. Holy shit. When he turned around to get a glimpse of Mark, he had a big grin on his face.

“Nice!” He clapped once, genuinely excited for Tom. He felt like a little kid being praised for tying his shoes, “You landed it first try; you made it out like you fucking sucked.”

“Well, usually I do.” He admitted.

“Well,” he blew a raspberry, “you did good, accept the damn compliment.”

“Whatever, okay!” Tom spat back at him, the smile on his face giving him away, “I fucking landed it and I was awesome and incredibly handsome.”

“You’re a bit of an asshole.” Mark said, “But that’s fine.”

Tom didn’t exactly know what to say to that so he just shrugged and switched roles, circling Mark. He snorted and watched Tom go around him twice until Travis called out to Mark, waving him over. Mark gestured for Tom to follow him.

“Sup, man?” He asked.

Travis looked at Tom for a split second before telling Mark, “We’re getting something to eat, if you wanna come.”

“Where at?”

“They wanna go to Taco Bell.” He rolled his eyes, “Tried to talk ‘em out of it but…”

“Yeah, I get it.” He laughed, “Whatever, that’s fine. Um, is it cool if Tom comes?”

Tom blinked, “Oh, no-”

“Sure, I don’t care. Just shove him in the back with Branden.” Travis shrugged.

“Who’s Branden?” He asked before he realized he didn’t care, “Also, my mom already made something.”

“Tough shit.” Mark smiled, “Get some cinnamon twists or something.”

Even despite his protests, he followed the group out of the park, “You better not kidnap me.”

Thankfully, he laughed at the joke. And if Tom wasn’t sorely mistaken, it even looked like Travis cracked a smile. Mark just opened the side of a beat-up old vehicle and said, “Just get in the van, Tom.”

Tom did actually get in the van and knew that if his parents knew, they would totally kick his ass. Whatever, he was an adult anyway. The kid that ended up smashed against him in what Tom guessed was the trunk space introduced himself as Branden. He also had a red mohawk but he wasn’t the asshole from the day before.

“I’m his cousin.” He pointed to the front of the van and Tom was content not knowing who he was the cousin to. He watched Branden itch at his bridge piercing, “You still in school?”

“Sorta.” He shrugged, “I go to like three classes in a school day.”

“Sick. I just started my junior year. You go to the high school in town?” He asked.

With a nod, Tom said, “Yeah. What classes do you have?”

For whatever reason, it was so much easier to talk to Branden than Mark or Travis. Maybe it was because his first impression of him was Branden being shoved in the back by a smiling Travis and landing half on top of Tom. Every time they turned a corner, they kinda got smashed together, even when they braced themselves on the van walls.

“Cool. We have lunch together, then.” Branden grinned, “You can hang with me and my friends if you don’t already have a table you sit at.”

He didn’t tell Branden he usually ate in the library, “Yeah, that’d be cool.”

“Sweet.” He nodded and then leaned a little bit closer, “How do you know Mark?”

“I really don’t. He helped me out yesterday with some dickheads and said to meet him at the skatepark whenever.” He strained his neck to sneak a look at Mark laughing at something in the passenger’s seat, “New to town, y’know, thought I should get out more. Why do you ask?”

“Don’t be so worried.” He chuckled and leaned away, “Just wanted to know why someone I've never met before was nearly sitting on my lap.”

That made Tom laugh, “Sorry, it’s my fat ass.”

“Stop being so voluptuous, it’s a safety issue.” He huffed and okay, that made Tom laugh for real, startled and loud.

“What’s so fucking funny back there?!” Mark shouted.

“Tom’s juicy ass!” Branden shouted back and he  _ seriously _ couldn’t breathe.

Maybe making friends wasn’t as hard as he thought.

…

Tom’s job was pretty simple. Stand at the checkout desk and pray that someone came in and bought something. It was his aunt’s little hole in the wall convenience store that somehow stayed open despite the fact Tom had helped five, maybe four people in the few weeks he’d worked there. But it was a weekend and after school gig to help him save up for whatever he decided to do when he graduated. If he graduated.

He stocked and faced shelves and fucked around with the stereo for a while until it got stuck on static. He ended up sneaking out the back and snagging a tape from his backpack. It was just an old punk tape he stole from a friend of his back home. Or back in his old town, anyway. Just something to drown out the silence.

He didn’t work for very long but his aunt paid him pretty well. Nine bucks an hour just to stand there from 4pm to 9pm and lock up shop when they closed. But that night was dragging on and on and  _ on _ and he just wanted to go home. He hadn’t slept the night before either and while he only had three classes, school fucking sucked ass. Not for any particular reason other than he got smacked for falling asleep in his first class.

And there he was, head propped up on the counter at his job, falling asleep while standing up. 

The only thing that jolted him awake was the sound of the bell, alerting him that someone had just walked in. He yawned, stretched, and pressed the rewind button on the stereo, seeing as he dozed off through the last half of the tape.

It was a group of some dudes, laughing and rustling through the chip aisle. Tom scratched at the scabs on his palms and waited for them to finish. His hands were healing up pretty nicely actually. He really needed to stop picking at them, though.

When he looked up, Mark turned the corner of the aisle and came into Tom’s line of sight. A smile spread on his face as he approached and Tom returned it with a sleepy one of his own.

“I didn’t know you worked here.” He said, setting down his assortment of snacks.

“My aunt owns it. Gets me outta the house.” Tom shrugged and started ringing everything up.

“I could always get you outta the house when you aren’t working.” He offered, digging through his pocket for change and handing Tom a 10, “When do you get off?”

“We close at 9. So... in about 30 minutes?” He fiddled with the button that opened the register and eventually slammed the button to get it open, “Jammed.”

“Oh, that’s pretty soon.” He said half to Tom, half to himself, looking over his shoulder at his friends. Tom recognized Travis but not the others, “Hey, I think I’ll stay behind, meet you there.”

“You sure?” Travis asked before his eyes fell on Tom’s half-awake form, “Oh. Yeah, dude. We’ll let Brandi know.”

“Cool.” He grinned and grabbed his change and his snacks in a plastic bag, allowing his friends to go ahead and check out, too.

Eventually, everyone left and Mark just stood at the desk and kept smiling.

“You’re... gonna wait for me to close?” He asked.

Mark shrugged, “There’s a party and you’re going.”

“Am I now?” Tom laughed.

He scratched at his face, “To keep you outta the house.”

“Right.” He nodded, “I don’t have a car, you know.”

“I do. My house is just down the street. I rode with Travis in the van.” Mark gestured to the door they’d just walked out of, “And by car, I mean my dad’s letting me borrow his truck till I buy a new car.”

“What, did you total your last one?” Tom skimmed over his list of things to do before closing, grabbing the broom to spot sweep the floor.

“Listen, she had her blinker on for like three blocks, okay?” He huffed and laughed when Tom gave him a look, “Nah, I hit a deer on my way back from a camping trip with the guys. Huge as hell, completely smashed the front of my car.”

“Shit,” Tom said and swept up a loose wrapper.

“Yeah.” Mark watched him work, “So. Walk me through your close. I’m your newest employee.”

It was probably the best closing shift Tom ever had. He gave Mark his aunt’s name tag and a reflective vest that no one used, handed him a thing of Windex, and they closed the doors right at nine. Tom got everything done he usually skipped because he wanted to go home like taking out the trash and stocking the Gatorade all because he had Mark behind him with a stopwatch betting him he couldn’t stock the red Gatorade in under a minute. He got it done in 45 seconds.

Mark, honest to God, did live close by. Closer than Tom thought he did. He lived in this sun-bleached apartment complex that had a pool with no water in it. He had to type in a pin in order to get to his apartment but it was far from gated community standards. When Tom had asked, Mark said it used to be a hot spot for vandalism. 

“Up there, the first door to the left is mine. Apartment 44. Should you ever need me.” He smiled, getting into the drivers side of the truck. When Tom was in the passengers seat, he went on, “Oh and the code to get in is so fucking simple. It’s 2323.”

“You trust I won’t vandalize your complex?” Tom teased.

“Oh yeah. You and your Stop N Save uniform look real sketchy.” He snorted and the truck roared to life with a few pops and bang and a muttered curse from Mark.

Tom looked down at his uniform shirt and groaned, unbuttoning the top three buttons and pulling it over his head. He had a plain black t-shirt under his uniform cause the fabric was itchy as all hell. It would have to do. When he looked over, Mark gave an approving nod.

“More prepared than I thought you were. Who knows, though. Maybe convenience store workers are some chick's wet dream at the party.” He snickered.

“God, shut up. Can chicks even have wet dreams?” 

Mark tapped the steering wheel, “You know, I asked my sister that once.”

Tom waited for him to say something.

“She punched my shoulder and refused to answer. Which in her language means yes.”

He sat back in his seat, “Weird.”

“Yeah.”

The party was something that Tom hadn’t quite experienced before. He’d been to house parties but it was usually all high school students and one older brother who bought the booze. Not a bunch of college students who could buy their  _ own _ booze. Tom was met with options in the kitchen instead of one box of Bud Light that Kevin bought and hid under his bed from his parents. 

“You good?” Mark asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah. I just can’t decide what I want.” He chuckled.

Mark stared at the table, “What do you usually drink?”

“Stolen Bud Light.” Tom shrugged.

“Lame.” Mark sang and snagged a bottle of Blue Moon, handing it to Tom, “Try this.”

“My parents drink this.” He said but took it nevertheless.

“Well then your parents have excellent taste.” He smiled and pulled Tom behind him by the crook of his elbow. 

Mark just sort of tugged him along until he found his friends standing in a circle in the living room with some girls. Tom thought he recognized one of them but she looked weirded out when he stared at her so he just shrugged it off. 

“Brandi, this is Tom.” He pushed Tom forward toward a tall girl with a Metallica shirt on and blonde highlights in her black hair.

“Hi.” 

“Hi.” She said back and tipped her cup at him before looking back at Mark, “He cool?”

“I think so.” Mark responded, nudging Tom when he looked surprised, “Yes, Brandi, he’s cool. Wouldn’t have brought him if he wasn’t.”

“Cool.” She nodded and turned back to Tom, “How old are you?”

“I’m-”

Mark pinched his side, making Tom yelp and effectively cutting him off, “He’s 21, Brandi. Why the fuck would I bring someone younger than that? Aha.”

Tom rubbed at his hip and glared at Mark. He looked fucking  _ nervous _ . Brandi didn’t look like the type of person to get on his case for underaged drinking but then again he didn’t even know her. There was a weird, heavy, awkward silence that ensued next. It was only broken when someone came up to the group and grabbed Travis by the middle, lifting him off the ground.

“Asshat!” Brandi called after the guy who had stolen Travis, a grin on her face.

Tom took that as his opportunity to 'find the bathroom'. He decided to give his drink to some dude with dreads for the sake of the party and Mark’s sanity. He didn’t really like how it tasted anyway. The bathroom was down a narrow hallway on the main floor but there were some noises that sounded a lot like fucking so he avoided that interaction at all costs. 

The house was pretty big. It was plain, like someone had moved all their stuff in but forgot to decorate. Lots of beiges and tans and navy blues. There was a guy playing music in the living room but it just sounded like the same Blur song over and over again but played in a different key. Party guitarists were fucking weird. But he sat on the couch and listened anyway. It wasn’t too long after that Mark found him.

“Why’d you run away?” He asked, sitting next to him, “And where’s your drink?”

“Gave it away. I just - I didn’t like it. You and my parents have shit taste.” He chuckled, trying to make light of the moment.

“What? Rude.” Mark followed his gaze to the dude playing guitar, “Dude, play something else.”

“I only know this song.” 

He rolled his eyes, “Then don’t fucking play!”

“This isn’t a concert, man, I’m just having fun. You’re being an asshole.” Guitar Guy set the guitar down.

Tom nudged Mark, “Dude.”

His smile fell when he looked at Tom, “You’re not having fun, are you?”

Tom sighed, “Not really.”

“Shit.” Mark said and took a drink out of the bottle he was holding, “Did Brandi get you down? I promise she’s actually like, really cool. She just gets nervous with younger dudes, y’know. Her dad’s a cop.”

“Gross.” 

“I know!” He raised an arm, “And he’s so fucking ugly, too.”

“That’s the criteria for being a cop. Being ugly.” He started to smile again. Maybe it wasn’t the party itself bringing him down, it was all the unfamiliar faces.

“Well, then they have a career for you,” Mark smirked and laughed, giddy when Tom shoved him backwards.

“Ass,” Tom told him, not in a rude way.

Mark sat his cup down and stood up, serious as ever. Or at least what he thought was serious. He grabbed Tom’s hand and yanked him up onto his feet. Before Tom could really process what the fuck was happening, Mark was kneeling down in front of him.

“I’m gonna carry you over to Brandi myself and tell her how awesome you are.” He said like that wasn’t batshit crazy.

“Mark-”

“Get on my shoulders, Thomas.”

Well. He couldn’t argue with that.

He hoped that Mark’s intoxicated self was good at keeping balance because Tom wasn’t exactly  _ light _ . When Tom was on his shoulders, Mark rose slowly and took a few uncertain steps forward. He was about to call this whole thing off when Mark started off to wherever Brandi was with purpose, walking like he didn’t have a nearly full grown dude on top of him. Tom had to duck when they went through doorways but other than that, the ceilings were pretty high.

After some trial and error and a few random high fives from partygoers, they found Brandi in the living room, sitting on the couch next to some other girls Tom didn’t know. She looked at them briefly and then did a double-take, her eyes nearly popping out of her head.

“Hoppus, what the fuck?” Brandi asked, “Put him down.”

“No.” He told her, sounding smug. He hiked Tom up and he grabbed at Mark’s head, not feeling all that safe. Mark reached up and patted Tom’s thigh. The gesture didn’t ease any worry, “I’m here to tell you that Tom’s awesome.”

“You’re fucking kidding me.” She deadpanned, “Ugh! Just put him down! I’m sure he’d be a bit more awesome on the ground away from the lights.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” He told her and when he took a step forward, he wobbled. 

Tom nearly pissed himself, “Mark, seriously, be careful!”

“I am careful.” He said and walked forward suddenly, not giving Tom enough reaction time before he hit his head on something.

There was a sound like glass breaking and the room grew dark.

Somewhere between the initial hit and Brandi screaming at them to get out, Tom got put down. The party seemed to still be going on in full swing from where Tom sat on the curb, trying to remember when he got there. Whatever he hit his head on must’ve hit him pretty hard.-

Mark was in front of him when he looked. He was reaching for Tom’s face - which was weird - so Tom pushed his hand away. That only made Mark sigh and sit on his knees, reaching for him again. That time Tom let him.

“You finally got out of shock, huh?” Mark asked.

“Was I in shock?” He replied.

He nodded, “You were.”

Mark brushed Tom’s tiny ass fringe away from his forehead and dabbed at a sore spot gently. Tom itched at his cheek and when he pulled away, there was blood under his fingernails.

“Dude-“

“The light that hit your head cut you. Heads bleed a lot.” He explained, “Some chick in nursing school said you won’t need stitches. Just some Advil and a bandaid. Now hold still, man.”

“Okay.” Tom said and closed his eyes, “What are you doing?”

Mark sighed again, “Fixing you up. My dad had a first aid kit in the truck.” 

Tom took that as a good enough answer for a while. It was quiet and dark outside, even without his eyes closed. He could hear cars passing every now and then but he mostly heard crickets and laughter coming from the party behind him. Maybe the shock was wearing off but Tom just - he had to know.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” He blurted.

Mark’s hand stilled only for a second. Tom wasn’t sure if he imagined it or not, “You cut your head-”

With a huff, he interrupted him, “I don’t mean right now.” 

“Oh.” He paused and when Tom opened his eyes, he was struggling to open an alcohol pad package, “I just - you know. I know what it’s like to not have friends when you need them the most.”

“Your friends ditched us.” Tom pointed out, “Did they stick up for us?”

“They didn’t.” He said tersely and got the package open, reaching up to dab at the cut on Tom’s face again.

“So we’re the odd men out.” Tom smiled.

Thank God, Mark smiled back, “I guess so.”

“So we’re each other’s friend then when we need one the most.” He went on.

He shook his head and chuckled, reaching into the box next to him and pulling out a bandaid, “I’m supposed to be the one borderline drunk here.”

“I’m being serious.” 

“Alright! Yeah. We can be that for each other.” He positioned the bandage just right and smoothed it down, “Good as new.”

“I don’t know what I’m gonna tell my mom,” Tom said as Mark helped him stand.

“Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, I’m gonna take you home.” He pushed Tom toward the truck.

…

“You missed school.” Tom’s mom opened the door to his room and flung a stack of paper on his bed, “One of your classmates was kind enough to drop off your homework.”

“Classmate?” Tom asked, waking up from a deep sleep.

“Some girl with black and blonde hair. Don’t you know her?” She scoffed and walked over to Tom, seeing that he looked exactly like he felt - like shit, “Are you sick?”

“No.”

“Okay.” She replied and opened the curtain to his bedroom window, “That boy is outside again.”

Tom sat straight up out of bed and looked out the window. Sure enough, there was Mark. He had his hand shielding his eyes from the sun, looking up at them. When Tom waved, he waved back. 

“Did he knock?” Tom asked, getting up and searching for at least a clean shirt.

“He rang the doorbell.” 

“Why didn’t you let him in?” He grabbed a shirt off the floor that smelled okay and started changing into it.

She shrugged, “Well, I don’t know him.”

“He’s not fucking dangerous.” He mumbled and took off down the hall.

“Watch your mouth!” His mom shouted after him.

“Sorry!” He called back to her, opening the front door. Mark had started walking toward the porch so Tom didn’t have to wait long to pull him in for a hug. It was quick, though, and awkward afterwards, “Hey.”

“Hey. Uh, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for the night before. I totally cut your head open and drove you home still  _ drunk _ .” He scratched at the back of his head, looking guilty.

“Dude, I forgive you.” Tom said and meant it, “And plus, I don’t remember like half of that night.”

That was also true.

“That’s not a good thing, Tom,” Mark said, following after him into the house.

“Make sure your homework gets done before you go anywhere!” 

“Okay!” He called back and ushered Mark toward his room. He kicked some shit to the side and closed the door before his mom tried to like - he didn’t know - tell Mark his life story.

“Your mom is interesting.” Mark commented before asking, “How was school?”

He shrugged, “I didn’t go. I slept in till about five minutes ago.”

Tom was busy trying to clean up his trashed bedroom a bit to where he could at least see parts of the floor so he didn’t see Mark’s face when he said, “Oh God, I concussed you.”

Unfortunately, that made him laugh, turning around with a ball of dirty clothes in his hands. Mark was not joking. He was leaning against Tom’s dresser looking distressed, “Hey! I’m fine. I’m not seeing things and I’m not hearing weird frequencies.”

“You were in shock for so long, too. And that nursing student was  _ pretty _ drunk-”

“Mark!” Tom threw a shirt from the ball in his hands at him, “Dude! I’m fine.”

He didn’t look the least bit convinced but sighed, giving in. 

“Now,” he turned back around, not caring which clothes were clean and which were dirty, and put his clothes in the hamper, “I’m gonna do that homework and you’re gonna help me.”

“It’s been a few years since I’ve-”

“You’re kind of being lame today, Mark.” Tom teased with a shit-eating grin and the smile he was met with was worth it.

“Alright! What are we working with? Geometry? Trig?”

Tom ended up sitting cross-legged on his bed while Mark sat on the floor and rested his arms on the edge of the bed, sometimes offering helpful advice. He mostly just poked and prodded Tom while staring into space. There wasn’t any math homework for once but there was a paragraph he had to write about a book they were reading in English.

“Ugh. I haven’t done the reading.” He huffed.

Mark perked up at that, resting his head on his arms, “What book?”

“The Great Gatsby. I think my book is in my backpack.” He pointed to the slumped bag in the corner and Mark reached over and grabbed the book for him, “Thanks.”

“I had to read that, too. It wasn’t terrible.” He offered, “If that helps.”

“We’ve read through most of it already. If I wasn’t supposed to analyze the damn period at every sentence of this thing, I would maybe like it.  _ Maybe _ .” He gave Mark a look, “I’m supposed to write a paragraph about Daisy’s character development from the beginning to now and how we think she’ll be at the end. I hate her, dude. I hate her husband more, though.”

“He’s a dick, no doubt. Why don’t you like her?”

“ _ Ugh _ .” He sighed, “You’re gonna make me talk about this outside of school?”

“Isn’t that what homework is?”

“Fine. I think she’s just like this weird nostalgia trip for Gatsby and all it’s doing is causing problems. She’s married, dude, leave her alone.” Tom opened his book only to stare at it blankly and close it a second later.

Mark grinned, “Wanna hear a theory?”

“Might as well.”

“Nick and Gatsby are gay.”

Of all things Tom expected Mark to say, that was definitely not it.

“What.”

“Yeah! Nick describes like every single smile of his in like  _ so _ much detail.  _ Totally _ gay.” Somehow, he said that with more confidence than the first thing, “Maybe Gatsby wasn’t feeling the same but there’s evidence of Nick getting with girls and dudes.”

“Are we reading the same book? He talks about girls' tits.” Tom gestured to the book in his hand, feeling like he was crazy.

Mark rolled his eyes, “There’s like this whole lever scene where Nick is in a room with a guy in his underwear and then it suddenly cuts to another scene without telling us the in-between.”

“Huh.”

“And just - compare the way that Nick interacts with Gatsby versus how he interacts with other male characters. So different.” He sat back, still smiling, “And before you ask, a bisexual dude at a party explained this to me. I was too dumb to come up with that on my own. But then I reread the book that summer and… bi guy made some points.”

Tom stared at him, unsure of what to say.

“You’re speechless.” Mark teased.

“Bi guy made some points,” Tom repeated.

“Fuck yeah, he did.” He looked down at Tom’s assignment, “Wait, how’d you get your homework if you didn’t go to school?”

“That’s what I don’t get either. I don’t really have friends at school yet other than Branden kinda. Mom said a girl dropped it off.” He shrugged.

“Secret admirer?” Mark lifted a brow.

That made him shove his stuff toward him, “Shut up, man. Let’s go… to the skatepark. I can always work on that after dinner.”

“Whatever, just messing with you.” He mumbled, “Let’s hope those kids aren’t there yet.”

…

“Hey fuckface. See you brought your boyfriend with you this time.” 

They were most certainly there.

Tom looked up and sure enough, there was red mohawk kid pointing and laughing at them. Some of his other friends started joining in but Tom chose to ignore it, giving Mark a nudge, and walking to the other side of the park. 

“These ramps are a little high for you.” Mark pointed out, “There’s another-”

“I’m not gonna leave cause some 15 year old prick wants me to.” Tom snapped.

Taken aback, he said, “I get that but there’s another park in town; it’s just a ten minute-”

He turned around and gave Mark a look and even though he looked upset about the idea, Mark nodded and followed Tom to the other side of the skate park. Mark had a point about the ramps but he just - those fucking kids were assholes and he wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction. It was just a ramp. All he had to do was focus and keep his balance. 

At the top of the halfpipe, Mark said, “Now, these are different. You don’t really wanna lose focus.”

“Or fall off the side.”

“ _ Or _ fall off the side.” He laughed, “Want me to go first?”

For a split second, Tom thought that he had it but Mark probably had a point about showing him, “Sure, go ahead.”

Tom ignored the approaching fuckwits and watched Mark at the edge of the landing take a deep breath and take off. In a split second, one of the kids shoved their board in Mark’s path, sending him flying forward off his board and onto the ground. Tom didn’t even think; he just slid down, checked to see if Mark was alright, and stormed up to the kids. He was hot all over, so mad that he was shaking.

“What the fuck is your problem?” He spat in the face of the kid with the red mohawk.

He didn’t react to his anger which made him even more furious, “We’re just playing around.”

“You - you call that playing around?! What the fuck is wrong with you? We’ve never fucking messed with you. We just wanna skate like you fucking psychopaths and ever since I took a step onto this fucking park, you’ve been nothing short of a fucking dick!” He gestured behind him at Mark, “He even  _ defended _ you when you were assholes to me. What the fuck do you want from us?!”

There was a pause and then he said, “We want your dick sucking asses out of our park.”

“This isn’t  _ your _ park.” He said through clenched teeth.

“Oh, so you are a dick sucker, then?” The kid snickered, “You should really get your priorities  _ straight _ .”

“You know, I understand that your dad didn’t hug you enough as a kid but taking out your issues on people you don’t even fucking know is lame shit.” Tom scoffed and went to go over to Mark - who was watching everything unfold with a look of horror on his face - when the guy grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around.

He looked about as angry as Tom, “Don’t fucking dare talk about my dad like that.”

“Get off of me.” He jerked his shoulder to get the guy’s hand off of him but he retaliated by  _ shoving _ Tom, “You don’t wanna fight me.”

There was a big ass vein bulging in his neck, “And you don’t get to talk about my dad like that.” 

“Oh my  _ God _ ! That’s what you’re pressed about? You made my friend fall just because you wanted to, you got what you deserved.” 

“Shut the fuck up, you fucking gay boy!” He screamed in Tom’s face.

Tom wiped the spit off of his cheek, “If you want to insult me, you’ll have to try harder than that.”

“Fuck you!” He swung his fist at Tom’s face but he ducked out of the way.

The guy staggered for a second and went to go shove Tom again but Tom had had e- _ fucking _ -nough at that point and punched him square in the jaw, hard enough for him to fall to the ground, holding his face in his hands.

Tom snatched his board and jogged over to Mark before the guy could recover and come after him. He was still on the ground so Tom helped him up, trying his best to be discreet when he looked him up and down. If they hurt him-

“I’m fine, Tom.” He said quietly, “Worst I got is a bruise on my knee.”

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.” He grumbled and ignored any words that were shouted at him as he walked out of the park with his arm around Mark, steadying him as they went.

…

Tom’s mom poked and prodded at Mark’s knee for a solid five minutes before saying, “Well, it’s certainly gonna hurt tomorrow. I’ll get some ice.”

The two boys let out a breath, relieved. If Mark ended up seriously hurt - he wouldn’t know what he would do. He was glad that he didn’t know. Mark was sitting at the dining table in a chair and Tom was sitting on the ground by his feet, arms around his legs. He hadn’t realized that he’d been zoning out until Mark got him out of his daze, ruffling his hair.

“Your concern for me is charming, you know. I can’t remember the last time somebody’s mom got me ice for an injury.” He smiled.

Tom smacked his thigh on his unharmed leg halfheartedly, “Those kids pissed me off, man.”

“I’ve fallen harder and from higher ramps, Tom, I swear I’m fine. I broke my fucking ass once. A bruised knee is nothing.” He messed with Tom’s hair again but kept his hand on his head when he said, “Promise.”

“Well, it seems Tom left the ice tray out again so hopefully a bag of frozen peas will work…?” She drifted off, looking at the boys expectantly.

“Oh! Mark.” Mark said with a smile, taking the peas from her, “Thank you, Mrs. Delonge.”

“You’re welcome, Mark.” She smiled back and gave Tom a look that said ‘I like this one’ which made him laugh. She rolled her eyes, “Try not to get into any more trouble tonight. Do you wanna stay over for dinner? I could easily make another plate.”

Mark shook his head, “Oh, no. Thank you but no. I already promised my mom I would stop by for dinner.”

“Some other time, then.” His mom said, leaving the room. However, not before messing with Tom’s hair, too.

“Cut it out, Mom.” He grumbled, trying his best to fix it as she left.

When Tom looked over, Mark had this stupid curious expression on his face. He let Mark mess with his hair but freaked out when his mom did. Tom ignored it and grabbed the peas from him, putting it on Mark’s knee.

“Use these, it’ll help.”

…

It was the end of the school day for him. Having half days were pretty fucking awesome. They were especially awesome when he had a rare day off work. That meant he had extra time to… to do whatever. He didn’t have a plan yet, exactly. He grabbed his bag, stopped by his locker for the jacket he threw in there earlier that morning, and nearly ran into someone. 

When he turned around, a girl had been standing there. Tom sort of backed up against his locker and stared at her, shocked that someone had been there and that that ‘someone’ was a chick.

A chick he already knew.

“Brandi?” He asked.

She shushed him, “Don’t draw attention to yourself. And stand up, Tom, I’m not gonna stab you.”

He did as told and looked up and down the hallway. It was clearing out with all the kids going to their next class so it didn’t take long for the two of them to be one of the only people in the hallway. Tom waited for her to say something but she just averted her eyes and shifted nervously. He had so many fucking questions he didn’t even know where to start.

Except maybe he did.

“Thanks,” he swallowed, “for dropping off my homework. I didn’t know we had any classes together.”

“I have every single class with you.” She stated, “But you’re welcome.”

“How did you figure out where I live?” He asked.

Brandi looked at him then, seemingly bored now, “My aunt works in the office. Just asked her what your address was so I could drop off some homework.”

“Seems illegal.” 

“Your mom’s illegal, okay.” She huffed, flicking her hair over her shoulder, “Look, this is totally weird and I can’t believe I’m about to ask you this but do you wanna come over? To my place?”

Tom blinked, “What?”

“I’m not asking you out on a fucking date. I’m taken anyway.” She hiked her bag up her shoulder, “I just wanna talk, okay? You could just walk with me there, even. Don’t even have to come inside.”

He thought it over in his head. She could kill him. But then again he wanted to know why she got on his fucking case about drinking at the party when she herself was the same age as him. And in all of his fucking classes.  _ And didn’t tell him _ .

“Yeah, I can walk with you.” He said and followed her out of the building.

She was quiet for a while. It wasn’t until they turned the corner away from the school that she spoke up, “I’m a senior.”

“Figured.” Tom said and groaned after a second, “I’m sorry about the light I broke with my head.”

“You’re fine. It’s Mark that I’m pissed at.” Brandi brushed it away, just like that, “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop him. That’s why I dropped off your homework. To try and… say sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. Mark’s a clumsy asshole.” He laughed through his nose. He watched Brandi almost drop one of the textbooks she was holding, “Want me to carry one of those?”

She looked him up and down before nodding and handing over two of the four she had, “Yeah, but you gotta love him.”

He shrugged, “I guess.”

“Anyway,” she blew a piece of her hair away from her face. She was walking fast and Tom struggled to keep up, “At the party I thought you recognized me from school, that’s why I kinda freaked when I first saw you. I was afraid my cover was blown, y’know?”

“Your cover?”

Brandi rolled her eyes like Tom was stupid for asking, “You really haven’t heard any rumors yet?”

“Dude, I found out like today that we go to the same school.” He said, “So  _ no _ , I haven’t.”

“Oh. Well, in short, my dad’s an asshole cop who ruins fun for a living so a bunch of kids took that out on me. Spread rumors about me being a lesbian or a hooker or a drug addict. Or a drug-addicted lesbian hooker. It was awful.” Tom watched her kick at a rock on the sidewalk.

He recalled Mark talking about her dad, “ _ Is _ your dad an asshole?”

“Yeah, I fucking hate him. If murder were legal…” She sent a look to Tom, worried eyes and a small smile. Tom chuckled, though, and Brandi continued, “But yeah. My reputation at school is a bust. Even teachers believe the shit they say. So one day I tagged along with some social rejects to a college party and met Travis. I’ve kinda been in their friend group ever since.”

Tom hummed, thinking, “So they don’t know then. That you’re in high school.” 

She inhaled sharply and grimaced, “I mean,  _ no _ . They think I go to the massage school across from the campus. Only once have they asked me to prove my skills to them and somehow I bullshitted my way through it.”

There was a pause in which Brandi seemed to have read Tom’s mind.

“Not in a creepy way! Oh my God, none of them think of me like that.” She looked him in the eye as she spoke to get her point across, “So they all think I’m a 21-year-old massage therapist in training.”

“So you lied to have friends.”

Brandi elbowed him, “Don’t fucking say it like that! Imagine having the people you see every single day hate your guts for a thing you can’t help. I just wanted some people to be myself around. Even if… I’m not 100% myself.”

Tom didn’t exactly know what to say about that. It sounded rough. And he couldn’t imagine what that was like. He got expelled, yeah, but he still had friends. He never tried to give people a reason to hate him. A part of him felt bad for her.

“This is me.” She stopped in front of a pretty generic looking house.

“So the party was at-”

“My uncle’s vacation home. He lives in New York and comes here during the winter.” She finished for him.

There was an awkward pause where they just kinda looked at each other in front of the home. It was painted seafoam green and had white shutters. There were cigarette butts everywhere in the yard. There wasn’t really anything outstanding about it.

“I better help you take these inside.”

God that was fucking lame.

Brandi seemed to not care, though, and led Tom onto the porch and into her house. A cat was sitting on the couch when they entered. The entire house smelled like someone was badly trying to cover up the scent of cigarette smoke. Tom guessed what her parents were like just from that. She took him all the way into the dining room and sat her books and bag on the table. Tom set her books next to her things and shoved his hands in his pockets, unsure of what to do with himself. He’d been to girls’ houses before but never in a weird-ass situation like this.

He watched her tap on the back of a chair, “Um. I like your nails.”

They were painted black but her middle finger had a red smiley face on it. It was clever.

She looked down at her hands and then back to Tom with a smile, “I could do yours, if you want.”

Tom had never had his nails painted before.

“I’ve never had my nails painted before.” He shrugged.

Her smile grew, “I’ll be right back.”

He didn’t have to wait long in the dining room. There was really only enough time to take a seat at the table until she came back with a small yellow box. She seemed excited to have something to do and Tom fed off of it. She opened the box and took out the red and black nail polish bottles as well as some q-tips and a bottle of nail polish remover. When Brandi had everything out, she looked up at Tom.

“You look nervous.”

“I’m not.” He replied.

“Okay,” she said but didn’t sound convinced, “which hand are we starting with?”

Tom offered his left hand and tried to hide his surprise when she took it. They weren’t holding hands exactly since she was putting black paint on his nails but still. Caught him off guard. Brandi had this concentrated look on her face as she worked, the tip of her tongue poking out of her mouth. It was almost cute.

“So, tell me why you’re finishing high school halfway through the year.” She prompted him, not looking up.

“I got kicked out for drinking on school property.” He said bluntly.

She looked up at that, brush still on Tom’s ring finger, “No shit. Were you drunk?”

For a second, Tom considered saying the truth but for whatever reason, he lied, “Yeah. Wasted.”

“Wow.” She went back to his nails, “And they just kicked you out like that?”

“Well, I’d pissed them off in the past. That was just sort of the last straw.” He chuckled at the understatement.

Brandi’s smile was lopsided, “I’m sure your parents took that well.”

“God, they were furious. My dad didn’t even talk to me for like three days.” Tom huffed at the memory, “But my mom needed an excuse to move anyway, even if it was just to the next town over.”

“It’s a nice house.” She commented and put the brush back in the bottle, looking at her work, “Barely a fucking stroke out of place. I should be a nail technician.”

She let Tom have his hand back and he stared at the wet polish. It did look pretty nice. He moved his hand around in the light, watching it shine.

“I feel so gay looking at my nails like this.” He snickered.

“Nothing wrong with being gay, Tom,” Brandi said, screwing the cap back on the bottle.

“Didn’t say there was.” He replied, “Sorry.”

She huffed and turned back to him, “Do you like it?”

He thought it over but not for more than a few seconds, “Yeah.”

“Cool.” She said and the two shared a grin.

A loud bang from inside the house nearly made Tom jump out of his skin. It sounded like it had come from upstairs, a loud thud followed by some rustling. Brandi reached out and grabbed Tom’s arm, yanking him upward until he was standing. He opened his mouth to ask what that was but she put a hand over his mouth, staring at the ceiling. It was deadly silent for a minute until there was a crash, like someone threw something and then a voice.

“Brandi!? You home!?” 

“Oh, fuck.” Her voice was quiet and rushed but she acted quick, shoving Tom’s bag into his arms, “It’s my dad. Go out the back door.”

She pointed to a door in the back of the kitchen that led to the yard. He didn’t ask any questions, just gave Brandi a scared look and ran. He put his bag over one shoulder and was careful to close the door as silent as possible behind him. The back door led to an alley and he booked it. He was a bit from home, usually he rode the city bus back to his place or skated if the weather was nice. He stopped when he had made it a few blocks down the road. He was pretty close to Mark’s place. After all that, he needed - he needed to see Mark.

His heart was still racing when he got to the gates of his complex. He looked down at his nails and some-fucking-how they didn’t get destroyed with all the movement. But now he only had one hand-painted. Fuck. 

He sighed at the sky, sort of directing it at God, and sent a halfhearted prayer to the same guy that Brandi would be okay. 

The pin pad stared back at him as he tried to recall what the password was. He knew Mark’s apartment was number 44… he bit the inside of his lip and nearly pissed himself when he remembered. Fucking hell.

2-3-2-3

_ Buzz. _

“I’m in.” He said to himself in what he assumed was his best hacker impression and sought off to find Mark.

But since everything was numbered, he found Mark’s apartment and smiled at the shitty truck he drove sitting outside the building. Tom climbed the steps and strode up to door number 44 and rapped on it three times and grinned when he heard it unlock and-

It was a woman.

“Oh, uh, is Mark home?” He asked, suddenly feeling sheepish.

She nodded, “Mark! The door!”

There was a weird series of noises and then the sound of running footsteps until the woman backed away and Mark took her place at the door, “Tom!”

Mark was wearing a t-shirt and basketball shorts and no socks and his hair was sticking up. Despite all that, he had the biggest smile on his face and Tom barely had enough time to smile back before Mark pulled him in for a nearly painful hug.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” He asked, sounding delighted.

Tom allowed Mark to push him into the house, “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Yeah?” He stopped by in the little kitchen, grabbing a Coke and tossing it to Tom. “Let’s go to my room, man, you can tell me all about it.”

Mark led Tom to the back of the apartment where there was a space with three doors. Two of which were open - Mark’s room and the bathroom. Tom guessed the other was his mom’s. He didn’t linger, though, and walked into Mark’s room. 

Okay. His room was pretty cool.

It had posters lining the walls of bands like The Cure and The Descendants. There was a lamp in the corner with a purple bulb in it, casting a faint colorful glow on the slightly messy room around it. There was a bookshelf filled to the brim with tapes and CDs and records. It seemed Mark was a lot cooler than Tom had originally thought.

Mark sat on the edge of his bed and patted the space next to him. Tom sat down and opened his soda.

“So what happened? You look a little - oh my God.” He grabbed Tom’s hand, looking down at his nails.

“Oh,  _ no _ .” Tom groaned and tried to pull away but Mark wasn’t done looking, holding onto his hand tighter. A shiver went down Tom’s spine when he ran a finger over the dried polish.

“You painted your nails?” He asked, looking up at him in awe.

Tom’s stomach did a terrible flip and he took a drink to cover it up, “That’s why I came over here. Brandi did them.”

Mark dropped his hand, “Brandi? Man, I thought she hated you.”

Tom shrugged, “So did I. But I ran into her after school and she invited me over to apologize and somehow she got around to painting my nails. But her dad came home before she could do the other one.”

“Fuck.” He sighed, “I've heard some shit about her dad, you know? That he hits her.”

Suddenly Tom felt like he was going to throw up, “Shit. Fuck, dude. If I ever see him, I’ll kill him.”

Mark nudged his knee, “Trust me, we’ve all tried to help but she refuses to talk about it. We’ve made it clear that we’ll help if she needs it and I think she’s asked Travis for help before but they made some vow of silence on the matter.”

Tom looked down at his lap, “Well, as long as she has the support, I guess I feel better about fleeing out the back door.”

For whatever reason that made Mark chuckle, “You sound like a modern-day Romeo.”

“I don’t like her, dude. We’re like… just becoming friends.” He aimed a halfhearted kick at Mark which he avoided.

“As one does with a very beautiful girl, right, yeah.” Mark teased, taking a drink.

And just because Tom was an asshole, he said, “Am I a beautiful girl, Mark? Is that why we’re friends?”

Mark gave him the weirdest look and if Tom’s eyes didn’t deceive him, he was blushing. Huh. But before Mark could reply, the woman from earlier poked her head in.

“Hey, sweetie, just wanted to see if your friend was going to stay for dinner.” She smiled, “Tom, was it?”

He didn’t remember telling her his name but nodded, “Yeah. And I could ask my mom, I would just need to call her.”

“Well, the phones in the kitchen, feel free to use it.” She patted the doorframe and left the room.

Awkwardly, Tom told Mark, “I’m gonna… call my mom.”

“Yeah! Yeah, I’ll be in here.” He cleared his throat and took another drink.

His mom wasn’t too happy with his decision but was happy that he actually had a friend for once and allowed it. The catch was that she had to talk to Mark’s mom on the phone afterward. She didn’t seem bothered by it, though, and left when he handed her the phone, hoping his mom wouldn’t embarrass him.

Mark was still in his room like he said he would be but he was standing by his stereo, playing something on low volume. Tom was kinda glad. Silences seemed a lot more awkward now. But Tom pretended that it wasn’t and sat back on Mark’s bed with his soda.

“Do you wanna do something?” Mark asked.

Tom shrugged, “I’m good with whatever.”

“Alright.” He sort of launched himself at his bed, making Tom bounce and laugh. He was laying down on his back, “How’d that Gatsby paragraph go?”

“Good, actually. I talked to my teacher about your theory.” He smiled, “She first thought you were crazy but told me a few days later that she ‘understood where you were coming from.'”

“Little shit.” Mark rolled over onto his side, “Your teachers are gonna think I’m a bad influence.”

“We both know I’m the real bad influence. Kicked out of school for under-aged drinking.” He sighed wistfully, “Fuck ‘em. Gatsby and Nick are gay.”

“Fuck yeah, dude.” And just because the two of them were total losers, they fist-bumped.

From the door, Mark’s mom said, “So change of plans. You boys are gonna pick up my Chinese takeout order and bring it home.”

“Are we now?” Mark chuckled, “Did you get-”

“Extra spring rolls? Yes.” She smiled, “By the time you get there, the order should be ready.”

And so, not so much by choice, Tom followed Mark outside and hopped into the passenger’s side of his truck with the intent to get Mark his extra spring rolls. It wasn’t boring but it wasn’t an adventure either. Mark sang along to the radio in a raspy voice and tapped the steering wheel rhythmically. Mark looked over at him when they were at a stoplight, catching Tom in the act.

“What?” He asked, a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

Guiltily, Tom laughed, “Um. I just thought you had a good - a cool singing voice.”

Mark looked at him like he’d grown another head, “Really?”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been in bands before, I know what a good singer sounds like.” He shrugged, “Don’t let it get to your head.”

The light turned green and Mark just grinned, “Oh no, it’s going straight to my head. Just maybe not the one you think.”

Tom slapped Mark’s leg, “No! Dude, no.”

The order was indeed ready when they got there and if Tom hadn't warned Mark against it, he would’ve eaten the entire box of spring rolls on the ride home. His mom seemed almost proud of Tom for being a bitch and smacking Mark’s hands away from the giant bag of food sitting on his lap. So much so that she rewarded him with another soda. 

He expected that Mark would take his stuff and go back to his room but much to Tom’s surprise they sat down at the dining table and passed around boxes of chicken and lo mein and spilt soy sauce all over the table and laughed together when Tom got a noodle stuck to his face. It was… nice. At some point, he didn’t know when, he must’ve scooted closer to Mark because when he moved his knee just an inch under the table, it touched Mark’s leg. He looked up to quickly say ‘sorry’ or ‘excuse me’ or something since that was the polite thing to do but he was just met with a smile and a nudge back. 

He’d never felt so at home in a house he’d never been in before.

…

“Yeah, Travis and the guys are all hanging out tonight. Not sure what we’re doing exactly. I think we might be watching someone’s band practice? I don’t know.” Branden shrugged, hiking his bag up his shoulder.

“Mark gonna be there?” Tom asked, scribbling down the page numbers that the teacher had written on the board, “Also why are you in here? You aren’t in English 12.”

“Yeah, but you are and you sit with me at lunch.” He responded, “And, duh. Mark’s one of the guys.”

“Well, so-rry.” He drawled, slamming his notebook shut and standing up, “I asked because I’m not sure Travis likes me all that much.”

“He likes you plenty.” Branden reassured him and then promptly pushed him forward, “Now, come on! They have french fries today.”

Tom picked up the pace, “Why the fuck didn’t you say anything sooner?”

That earned him a well deserved shove and he laughed, leading the way to the lunch hall. Some more of Branden’s friends caught up with them in the moving crowd. They were a really odd bunch. It was like a bunch of hardcore kids but instead of mohawks and patches, it was skinny jeans and long black hair. They were cool, though, and nice to Tom which were the only requirements these days in order for him to consider them his friends. The touchiest one, Robert, came up behind Tom and held onto the crook of his elbow.

He nearly ran into someone, pressing himself close to Tom before letting go, “Sorry. Didn’t want to lose you.”

“Yeah,” Tom said, rather unbothered and used to him at that point.

Robert pointed to two of the other guys that sat with them, “What the fuck are they looking at?”

He followed Robert’s gaze and started to walk over to them. Quinn and Jeph - the guys standing there like zombies - were staring at some kids putting up a poster.

For the school dance.

“Fuck.” Robert said, “Got a suit, Quinny?”

“Bert, I’m not taking you to a dance after what happened last year.” He moved away from Robert’s tickling fingers.

“What?” He held up his hands defensively, “You said it was a date, I treated it like a date.”

Tom decided he didn’t wanna hear more of that, “A dance could be fun, I guess.”

Branden chuckled, “It’s ‘Gatsby’ themed. I can guess which department is in charge of it this time around.”

“Could be worse.” He shrugged and groaned when Robert grabbed his arm again, “Dude-”

It was Brandi. Definitely not Robert. Or Bert. He’d gotten on Tom’s case for calling him by his full name.

“Hey, I brought the paint so we can finish your other hand.” She smiled, dutifully ignoring the guys around them.

“Oh. Okay?” Tom said and was immediately dragged away from his friends. He sent them an apologetic look and kept up with Brandi.

Thankfully, she let him grab a plate of lunch before stealing one of his hands. She worked quietly with the same concentration as before. How the fuck she could act like nothing weird happened yesterday, Tom didn’t know.

“Brandi-”

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” She said.

“Okay.” He sighed, popping a fry into his mouth, “I went to Mark’s afterward.”

“You didn’t tell him anything, did you?” 

“Brandi - I was fucking terrified for you!” He sort of whispered, leaning down so no one could eavesdrop, “I had to ask Mark if he knew anything or if you talk to people about it or if you would be safe.”

She scoffed, tucking her hair behind her ear, “You sound like my mom.”

“Whatever. I was worried.” He huffed.

Brandi was quick in getting his other hand done and it made Tom wonder if she went slow on purpose at her house, “And I do talk to people. I talk to Travis.”

“As long as you’re talking to someone.”

She slammed the bottle of nail polish down onto the table once she’d closed it, “If I wanted your fucking pity, I would ask for it. I’m not the helpless little girl everyone thinks I am. I hit twice as hard.”

Tom was taken aback, “Sorry.”

After a beat, she reached out and touched Tom’s wrist, “Sorry. I really don’t like talking about it.”

“Then we won’t.” He cracked a smile and that made Brandi laugh through her nose and sit back so Tom called it a win. Until he realized, “Wait - does Branden know? And the others?”

She huffed, “Yeah, they just hate me enough to watch my plan of having friends fail. That’s what they said to me anyway. They think it’s like a front row seat to my destruction.”

“I’m-”

“If the next word is ‘sorry’, I’ll kick your ass.” She said nonchalantly.

“Right.” He tapped the table with his free hand.

During the rest of lunch, Brandi mostly picked off of Tom’s plate - the things he didn’t want, of course - and talked about the dance. He didn’t mind but his dance knowledge was slim to none. The one he had gone to his freshman year wasn’t a typical situation. He snuck into a dance with a senior and sat in the corner with the other punk kids. He got invited to their after-party, too. Some guy had a show booked in his basement and Tom had gone. He didn’t know a soul there and it was the best feeling ever.

“Do you wanna come over again? Promise my mom is the only one home.” She asked at the end of the day, cornering Tom against his locker again.

This time Tom pushed past her, “I’m actually going out with some friends tonight, sorry.”

“Oh. I wasn’t invited.” She stated, following.

Tom liked her, trust him, but he wanted to hang out with just Mark and Travis and Branden. He opened the doors to the front walkway of the school.

“It’s just a small thing with me, Mark, and Travis.” He lied, searching the parking lot for Mark’s truck.

After telling him that he usually rode the city bus or walked home, Mark immediately asked what time he got off and where to park. Tom distinctly remembered Mark’s mom telling him he was a ‘good boy’ for offering Tom rides home since he didn’t work during that time of day. It was a weird dinner at the Hoppus residence, for sure.

He spotted it and waved with his whole arm, sort of chuckling to himself on how ridiculous he must’ve looked. He watched Mark reverse out of the spot to drive up to the front and then looked back to Brandi who had turned pretty pale.

“Who the fuck is that?” She asked.

“It’s-” Oh. He forgot, “Fuck, Brandi, it’s Mark, go back inside.”

“The doors lock behind us during school.” She said and started walking down the sidewalk so fast she was almost running.

Tom forced himself not to look at her as she walked away. Mark pulled up and Tom hopped inside the cab, able to forget for just a second when Mark ruffled his hair and handed him a bottle of soda.

“What?” 

“Don’t question it. I got thirsty and decided to get you one.” He shrugged and started off down the road, “How was school, champ?”

“First of all, kindly go fuck yourself.” Tom opened the bottle and took a drink, “Secondly, it was fine. How was your day, Dad?”

“Oh, fuck, don’t call me that.” He laughed and went quiet for a second, staring at something in the distance.

Tom already knew the answer, “What?”

“Oh, I just - thought I saw someone I knew.” Mark brushed it off, “Branden tell you about the basement show?”

“Yeah! It sounds pretty rad.” Tom said, enjoying the subject change a little too much.

He tapped the steering wheel, a smile on his face, “It’s gonna suck. It’s a girlfriend’s brother’s ska band.”

“Never mind, I don’t wanna go.” He teased, “Let’s go to your house and watch AFV till the sun rises.”

That made him laugh, “You make a compelling argument. But I already promised to be there.”

After a beat, Tom said, “What if we were late?” 

Mark seemed to process it, “What  _ if _ we were late…?”

…

And so they were unfashionably late. They missed about half of the show and the two songs they did hear were… definitely ska music, Tom gave them that. The band was composed of some pretty awesome dudes, though. Mark gave the usual introductions by passing Tom around the party.

“Do you know how to drive?” Some guy asked him roughly thirty minutes after they’d gotten there.

“Yeah. I got my license when I was 16, I just don’t have a car.” He shrugged.

“We need a designated driver.” He pointed behind him at his friends who were all holding identical red cups.

“I could always drive you,” Travis said to Tom’s left. 

(He hadn’t been there a second ago.)

“Really?” The guy lit up.

He shrugged, “Yeah, I never drink, you know that.”

“Oh, true.” The guy nodded and looked back at Tom, “Thanks anyway, man.”

“No problem…” He mumbled, watching the guy walk to the other side of the basement.

Travis didn’t walk away, though, and for some reason that made Tom anxious. He actually sat down next to Tom on the fucking couch and watched the others mingle. 

“So you think I don’t like you, huh?” 

“Fucking - Branden?” He huffed.

He laughed, “Yup. He tells me everything.”

“Noted.” Tom pursed his lips.

“Oh, come on.” He turned to face Tom, swatting him playfully, “I like you, dude, you’re just annoying.”

“That makes me feel so much better.”

He rolled his eyes, “God, you’re so fucking emo. It’s like how little brothers are annoying. You still like them but you remember how you were when you were their age and that’s… annoying.”

“You are a little annoying,” Mark said, coming up and sitting on Tom’s right.

He groaned and let his head fall back onto the couch, “I get it, I’m the little brother and I’m so fucking annoying. Then why am I here?”

“Because Mark has a crush on you,” Travis said and Mark immediately choked on his drink.

He reached over Tom to smack the side of Travis’s head, “I’ll beat your ass, Barker.”

“I don’t mind; I am extremely hot and amazing.” Tom teased, almost happy with how embarrassed Mark looked, “Though, I would like to see Travis win.”

“Not a chance,” Mark said.

Travis leaned over to look at him, “Oh yeah?”

And in the next second, Travis and Mark were wrestling while Tom sat on the couch both proud and mortified. Mark fought like a dying man, all hands flailing and threatening to fart on him while Travis had him pinned in seconds with a precision that was almost frightening. 

“Motherfucker, don’t tickle me!” Mark squealed and Tom really wished he had a camera.

“Then admit I’m stronger.” 

“Fuck - okay! Okay, you’re stronger! Your meat is huge and you pull so many chicks just get  _ off _ .” He was pleading. It was amazing.

Travis let him go and Mark stood up quickly, moving to sit down next to Tom again.

“Nice.” He told Mark.

Mark shoved a finger against his lips firmly, “Don’t say a word.”

And just because he could, Tom licked him and laughed when he freaked out and tried to wipe it off on Tom’s arm.

“You’re insane. Both of you.” He looked at Travis.

“You’re the one who wanted to fight me for telling the truth.” He grinned, slouching against the wall as cool as ever.

“Travis,” Mark warned.

He held up his hands and walked over to the other side of the basement, hitting Branden on the back and saying something to him. Tom didn’t feel out of place like he had at Brandi’s party. He knew almost everyone there just from hanging out with Mark. 

Tom got up to snag the only nonalcoholic drink at the party - grape soda for some fucking reason - and came back to the couch. They’d sort of claimed the spot at the party, him and Mark, so when he turned around and there was someone in his spot, he got kinda pissy. Especially when it was some girl he vaguely remembered from Brandi’s party. 

“Do you have any tattoos?” She asked, tugging at his sleeve.

Mark didn’t look uncomfortable but he didn’t exactly look like he wanted her there either. Why was Tom so pressed? He decided not to think about it too hard seeing as the anger took over quicker than anything else.

“Yeah, my name on his ass.” He said, handing Mark the Fanta bottle, “That’s my spot.”

She sent a look to Mark but he was looking at Tom weirdly. Tom couldn’t tell if he was blushing from being angry or from something else entirely.

“Psh.” She scoffed and got up, “See you around, Mark.”

As she passed Tom, she bumped into him, nearly making him spill his drink on his shirt. He chose to ignore it.

“Yeah, um.” He cleared his throat and waited till Tom was sitting to say, “Thanks. She’s dating Branden and she keeps trying to get with me cause I’m older.”

“How old is she?” Tom sent her a quick glance across from the room.

Mark shrugged, “She’s in his class, that’s all I know. He tends to not invite her along to stuff because of that but I guess she won him over this time.”

“I think it’s cool you don’t encourage that,” Tom said honestly.

He blinked, “Why the fuck would I? I prefer my girls over 20. It would be stupid and illegal to date a girl like her.”

“Oh, but 18-year-old boys are fine.” Tom nudged him and Mark shoved him back twice as hard, making him actually spill grape soda on the couch.

“Travis is a fucking liar, alright.” He sighed, “Make me sound like a fucking predator. You’re 18. You’re like my best friend. Why he can’t see that, I don’t know.”

“You’re awfully defensive.” He said, bottle up to his lips.

Mark narrowed his eyes, “You awfully look like you wanna get punched.”

He laughed, “You can punch me as long as you kiss it better.” 

“Sadists, the lot of you.” He gestured to the room around them, looking exhausted.

He was totally being dramatic but Tom could see why. Having your friends insinuate all day that you have a crush on another one of your friends gets old fast. Even he knew that and he was the one making the jokes despite being the butt of it. Or half of the butt anyway. A buttcheek. 

Tom lifted his bottle toward him, “To Mark, for being one of the best good things to come from a shitty situation.”

With a shy giggle and the clink of glass hitting glass, Mark said, “To me.”

And yeah, maybe that was sappy and a bit gay for Tom to say but that’s how he really felt. Getting kicked out of school and forced into a new environment as a consequence of his own dumbass actions wasn't all that fun. But meeting Mark and getting to know him and meeting his friends and getting to know  _ them _ ? That was fun.

“Aw, come on!” Travis said across the room, not directed at the two on the couch but said loud enough that it should’ve been, “Just a few songs, I’ll play the bucket!”

“He’s gonna play what?” Mark said.

“The bucket, I believe,” Tom replied.

He watched as the band gathered their acoustic guitars and sat down on the ground. All except Travis who was sitting on the bucket he was about to play. There was some chatter, a shout across the room to Tom and Mark, and then the first strum of a song. They all sat around the band like campers around a campfire, singing along to the out-of-key Tom Petty song. Tom didn’t know all the words to the songs like most of the people in the room did so he mumbled until the chorus hit and belted it with the others. Mark was all smiles while he sang the songs and gestured grandly with the bottle of grape soda. When the band ran out of songs that they all knew, Travis hopped off of his bucket, and they started playing some of their new acoustic stuff.

“We’ve actually been working on like… an MTV Unplugged kind of thing.” The lead singer said, “So here’s some of that. Um…”

He looked to the bassist tuning his guitar and waited until he was done to start. Tom liked their acoustic stuff a thousand times more than the other shit they played. This song was actually really pretty. And a love song. He couldn’t remember a single lovely or pretty thing about the set they played a few hours ago.

Tom didn’t realize he was sort of moving with the music until his and Mark’s shoulders brushed. Mark turned to look at him with this sort of affectionate smile and Tom couldn’t help but return it. Mark was his friend. Tom had  _ friends _ . He still couldn’t get over it. And just because he could, he leaned over and put his head on Mark’s shoulder. Expectantly, he waited for Mark to push him off or ask him what he was doing but instead, he wrapped an arm around him and squeezed once before letting his limb rest there.

Tom felt weirdly warm and content and he hadn’t even been drinking. It was weird. A good weird but weird all the same. But, he supposed he liked weird things. A lot. Mark was one of those weird things.

…

That night, when he snuck in late, giggling to himself as Mark waved and blew kisses at him from the window of his truck, he planned to go to bed. But when Mark left, just as his head hit the pillow, there was a knock at the door. Who the absolute fuck it could be, he didn’t know. But he hurried to the front door, worried that it was Mark and his mom would get up and scare him off.

He opened the door without looking through the peephole and there stood Brandi, streaks of black makeup running down her cheeks.

Tom didn’t know what to do. He’d never had to comfort a girl like this before. She didn’t do much either, just sort of stood there, crying, until she slowly walked forward and rested her forehead on the front of Tom’s shoulder. Unsure of what to do or why she was here, he put his hand on her back and let her inside, whispering for her to be quiet.

She just nodded and sniffed, caving in on herself as Tom led her to his bedroom and shut the door behind them. He’d snagged some tissues and wipes from the bathroom to help with the makeup and tears but she didn’t seem interested in that. 

Tom sat her down on his bed and sat across from her, “Brandi, you gotta tell me what’s wrong.”

“He knows.” Her voice was shot, a raspy whisper.

“He?” 

“Mark. He knows about me.” She explained and Tom watched more tears run down her face.

Everything she had ever built for herself, all of her friends, her popularity, her safe place - gone. And Tom was watching it disappear. He blinked and looked down at his sheets, trying to think of how and when she would’ve been able to find this out.

Brandi seemed to have read it on his face and wiped at her cheeks with her hoodie sleeve, “He just stopped by my place and asked me if it was me that he saw and I couldn’t lie, I mean - I’m not that hard to recognize.”

She pulled at a blonde streak.

“And I tried to explain it to him but he was so repulsed by me - I’ve never seen someone look at me like that before I just-” She cut herself off and looked at the ceiling, “I knew this would happen eventually but not so soon.”

“Brandi, look at me.” He said in a soft tone, waiting until she did as he asked, “I’m gonna talk to Mark about all this okay? I’m sure he’ll listen to me. It’s, uh, probably jarring for him to just see you walk out of a high school. He may not think we’re the same age, y’know? He’s just trying to be careful.”

“Careful?” She asked in a tone that indicated violence.

“Like - like he told me he prefers his girls to be over 20. Maybe he thought you were cute or had a thing for you or something and when he found out you were younger than he was told to think, it made him feel… gross or dirty.” He explained, “He even feels a little iffy about bringing me around because I’m 18, y’know?”

Brandi tucked her hair behind her ear. She’d stopped crying, for the most part, a few wet tear tracks reflected on her face, though, “Really?”

“Yeah. Um,” he considered not telling her the truth but found himself saying it anyway, “Travis made a joke that Mark had a crush on me and Mark said he only likes girls above 20 and I said ‘but you like your boys younger’ and he freaked out.”

“But you’re like… an adult that doesn’t make sense.” She told him.

“Um, I would say the only way me and Mark are adults is by legal definition.” He chuckled nervously.

Surprisingly, she cracked a smile, “I guess that’s true.”

“But I’ll talk to him, okay? Let him hear my side.” Tom put his hand over Brandi’s, not really thinking about it until it was too late. 

He watched her look from him to their hands and carefully held Tom’s hand, “Thank you.”

“Um.” He laughed, taking a free hand through his hair, “You probably shouldn’t stay too late. My mom wouldn’t be happy to find me with a girl in my room.”

“Oh, fuck. Yeah, right.” She let go of him and snagged the bag of wipes from him, “Where’s the bathroom? I’m gonna try to get my raccoon eyes looking normal.”

They shared a laugh and Tom showed her to the door, waiting patiently outside of it until she was done. She kept thanking him for listening, for going to talk to Mark about everything and gave him a hug before she left as quickly as she had come. Tom didn’t know what exactly he signed up for but he knew something uneasy was settling in his chest.

… 

Tom sat between Mark and Travis at the skatepark, sweaty and worn out from chasing Mark around the park on his board. He’d stolen his shirt before but Tom still hadn’t put it back on, trying to cool off. He decided that now would be a good time to bring something up.

“So, um,” Tom started off strongly, “Brandi showed up at my place last night.”

Mark’s jaw twitched but otherwise, he didn’t react, “Yeah?”

For whatever reason, that pissed him off. He huffed and said, “Dude, I know what you did.”

“What  _ I _ did?” He scoffed, “She’s in high school, Tom! You go to fucking school with her - did you know?”

“Of course, I knew. But-”

He let his head fall back and hit the chain-link fence behind them, “That’s cheap.”

“Mark, will you fucking listen to him?” Travis cut in, “I knew.”

He sat up straight, “What?”

He shrugged and gestured vaguely, “She needed someone to talk to about her dad and it wasn’t like she couldn’t talk about her still being in school.”

Mark looked like he’d just been stabbed, “Both of you knew she was in high school.”

“But she’s my age!” Tom nearly shouted at him, “Dude, she’s  _ older _ than me by like 6 months. You bring me to parties and shit.”

“Yeah, but-”

“Dude, she came to my house fucking sobbing! You should see the way she gets treated at school. I’m like the only one who even lets her sit with me. You guys were her friends before you knew this. Fuck, Travis knew and didn’t treat her any differently. Why are you being the asshole?” He asked and then backpedaled, realizing how harsh that was, “Sorry, I mean - why are you acting like this? I can understand being lied to, she lied to me at first. I just don’t get it.”

Both Travis and Mark looked impressed. They exchanged a look. Mark sighed and stood up, offering a hand to Tom to help him up. He took it, confused, but followed him away from the others without question.

“You can’t laugh at me. Okay?” He looked up at Tom, hanging his head.

“O-okay?” He blinked.

He shifted and avoided looking at Tom directly, “So we’re talking about lies and shit, yeah?”

“Yeah?” 

What the fuck could Mark be hiding?

“I’m a bit jealous.” He blurted, “Of you and Brandi.”

Tom didn’t know what to say.

“What?” He said, “How so?”

Mark looked like it was painful to talk about, “I don’t have a thing for Brandi if that’s what you mean. You guys just seem to be spending a lot of time together-”

“Oh, no,  _ Mark _ .” Tom sighed, “I told you before; I don’t like her. I’m just her friend and that’s all I wanna be. Are you worried that we wouldn’t hang out as much if we dated?”

“Sorta.” He chuckled, “God, when you put it like that I sound pathetic.”

“You were pathetic before admitting that.” Tom teased and laughed when Mark punched his arm, “No but dude, even if we did date, I would still hang out with you. Have people stopped because of girls or something?”

“A few.” He said vaguely, “Or they bring them along uninvited. Like - I don’t mind most of my friends’ girlfriends, right? They’re actually pretty cool most of the time. But I don’t always wanna hang out with… Branden  _ and  _ Sammy, y’know?”

Tom nodded, “I get it. I like hanging around you and Brandi but I think I’d rather hang out with just you or just her.”

Mark smiled but then tried to cover it up with a cough. Tom watched him card a hand through his hair and nod once, “Cool. Glad that went well. Travis said it would but like… yeah.”

“Yeah.” He agreed and just for the hell of it, despite how rank the two of them must’ve smelled, he pulled Mark in for a hug, “Always talk to me, dude. I’ll never be an asshole if it’s serious.”

“Thanks, Tom.” He said.

It felt kind of interesting, Mark’s skin against his. But he didn’t pull away until Mark started to. He seriously needed to take a cold shower when he got home, he felt like he was on fire.

“Do you, uh, wanna hang out tonight, then?” Mark asked.

Tom grinned, “Of course, dude. I know just the thing, too.”

…

“We’ve been driving for a while, Tom, do I get to know where you’re taking me now? In my own damn truck?” Mark asked, leaning toward him.

Tom stopped the truck at a four-way, looking at the street signs. He needed to get onto Anchorage Street. If he took Maple and parked the truck on Lewis, they could walk the block to Anchorage so no one saw their getaway car. 

“And what the fuck is in this box?” He kicked the shoebox at his feet and Tom nearly had a heart attack.

“Don’t do that!”

Mark jumped, “What? Is it alive?”

“Try explosive,” Tom explained and smiled when he got onto Lewis Avenue. He parked the truck in front of a house that was up for sale and sat back in his seat, shaking with nerves, “Okay, so we’re gonna set off some fireworks in front of my old principal’s house.”

There was a brief moment where he just stared at Tom, “What.”

“Look, that asshole put me through hell and back for no fucking reason.” He pointed off in the distance, “I was a troublemaker, so what? I was bored and had too much time on my hands. He used to stalk me around the school. He followed me into the bathroom once with my friends and even though we were all talking like sailors, I was the only one who got detention.”

“He needs to get laid.” 

“I know!” Tom threw his hands up, “So are you with me?”

He pretended to think about it, “Absolutely.”

He grinned at Mark, “Alright. So the plan is to set these up as quickly as possible, light them, and get to the truck before they all go off.”

He nodded, grabbing the box, “Lead the way.”

It wasn’t so much of a walk as a jog to the front of the principal’s house. He checked the side of his mailbox to make sure that he actually still lived there and when he saw his last name in big bold letters, he just took in a breath and got on his knees, gesturing for Mark to do the same. Tom ended up setting the fireworks on the yard, making sure the fuses all connected at the end so he didn’t have to light them all individually but rather all of them at once. He dug through his pockets for his lighter but Mark stopped him right as he was going to flick it.

“Can I?” He asked.

Tom handed it over to him without hesitation, smiling, “Do the honors.”

Mark lit the fuse and jolted up, tugging Tom alongside him. The truck was just around the corner on another street so they didn’t have to sprint for very long. Tom started to head for the driver’s side but so did Mark.

“Do you-”

Tom flailed his hands, “You - just get in!”

He hopped into the passenger’s seat, closing his door just as Mark did. He was taking big, heavy breaths, trying to steady it out, and looked over to see Mark doing the same thing. When he looked back at Tom, he put his hand on his shoulder. For whatever reason, Tom didn’t know, he nodded at Mark, still a bit whacked out from the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

Mark started to lean forward just as Tom did and their lips met in a chaste, almost aggressive kiss. The hand on Tom’s shoulder was shaking when they parted. 

In the distance, there was a loud whistle and then a bang, startling the both of them and reminding them why the fuck they were there in the first place. Mark turned the truck on and drove off in record time, heading back the way they had come and toward their own town.

When Tom had finally caught his breath, he let his head hit the headrest, surprised they got away with it. He ran a hand through his hair and licked his lips and remembered - no,  _ tasted _ \- what had happened between them. Were they gonna talk about it?  _ Should _ they talk about it? Was it a one-off thing? Or a complete figment of Tom’s inner fantasies?

“Holy shit.” Mark said at a stoplight, sending Tom a glance, “We did it.”

“We did it!” Tom raised his hand for a high five but when his and Mark’s hands met, Mark held them in place.

“You’re insane, coming up with that idea.” He said, smiling.

That made Tom giggle, “You're as sane as me.”

Mark squeezed his hand before letting go, putting his hands on the wheel just in time for the light to turn green, “Wish I could’ve been a fly on the wall seeing that guy’s reaction.”

“I kinda like not seeing it. Almost. Like a vigilante.” He gestured stupidly as he spoke, “Dude.”

Mark glanced at him again, “What?”

“Bonnie and Clyde,” Tom said.

He laughed like he’d just heard the best joke ever told. When he recovered, he said, “Even better. We’re Tom and Mark.”

“Tom and Mark.” He let it roll off his tongue, “Mark and Tom.”

He could get used to the sound of that.

When he saw the sign welcoming them to town, he popped the question, “Do you wanna spend the night?”

He watched Mark nod, “Yeah, dude, I’d love to.”

…

“He doesn’t do drugs, does he?” His mom asked the moment Mark wasn’t around them.

“Oh my God! Mom,  _ no _ , he doesn’t. Worst he does is drink and it’s cause he can legally.” Tom gestured to his closed bedroom door.

“Is he a bit old to be your friend?” She asked.

He huffed, “Your best friend is ten years older than you.”

For a moment, she stared at him, “Alright. And just so you know, Shon’s gonna be staying with us for a few days. They’re bug bombing his place. Good night.”

“Oh, okay. Good night.” He sighed and hugged her, going back into his room after the brief interrogation he’d just been victim to on whether or not Mark was a law abiding citizen.

He hoped she wouldn’t catch wind of their firework show back at the principal’s house.

In his room, Mark was sitting on the edge of his bed playing Tom’s guitar. Mark looked up when he first came in but continued strumming a nonsense tune. Closing the door behind him, he leaned against it, watching Mark with a smile on his face. He still hadn’t fully processed what had happened - if anything  _ had _ happened - and if it meant something had shifted between them.

“I didn’t know you played.” Mark said, turning the guitar toward him to look at it, “It’s nice.”

“My friends got it for me back home for 13 dollars.” Tom chuckled, moving to sit not on the bed but near Mark on the floor.

“Pretty nice for 13 dollars.” Mark corrected, placing it on the bed behind him. He slid down to join Tom, “Um.”

“Um.” He agreed and scratched the back of his neck, “My mom asked if you do drugs.”

Mark snorted and then made a face like he hadn’t meant to do that, “Oh my God. Your mom is hilarious.”

“Just looking out for me.” He shrugged, “She said you were too old to be my friend.”

Mark sighed, “I hope you don’t feel that way.”

“I don’t.” And just because he could, carefully, he put his head on Mark’s shoulder, “That’s what… four? Three? Something years between us? My mom and her best friend met when she was 19 and she was 29.”

“I-I don’t see the problem with us then.” He stuttered, sort of leaning into Tom’s touch but not doing anything back.

He never thought the guy who defended him from mean-ass kids in the skatepark would be shy, sitting with him on his bedroom floor. But then again, Tom didn’t know what to do either. He’d never… never really liked guys like he liked Mark. His friends back home used to do weird shit that people would say were gay. Like running across the street naked together and making fun of porn cliches on Tom’s old video camera. Or that one time when he went camping with a friend and they went skinny dipping together in the lake and his friend asked him ‘if he were a girl, would he date him’.

Fuck.

When he lifted his head, sort of unsure if he could go through with his plan, Mark turned to look at him and it felt like it had in the truck. But this time, Tom let himself look. There was no rush, no fireworks, no escape plan. Just him and Mark with all the time in the world. 

He knew that Mark’s eyes were blue, that’s just something you notice when you hang around someone all the time, but he hadn’t realized just how blue they were.

It felt like an unknown force was pulling him back toward Mark, reaching up to cup his cheek before kissing him. It wasn’t chaste or rough this time but intentional and soft. He half expected Mark to push him away and call the kiss in the truck a one-time thing. Instead, he pushed up into the kiss and turned toward Tom, a hand landing on his thigh. Tom couldn’t help himself; he made a happy noise into the kiss. 

Mark smiled and broke away for a second, resting his forehead against Tom’s before kissing him again. 

That kiss didn’t last as long as the one before because Tom’s bedroom door opened and his fucking brother said, “Have you seen… mom?”

Quickly, Tom pushed Mark off of him. Shon would tell his mom, he knew it, he couldn’t help it. Kari, not so much, she honestly couldn’t care less. But Shon’s face went from disgusted to elated quickly.

“I’ll just go find her myself.” He said and closed the door.

Tom pulled at his hair and stood up, “Fuck. Oh my God, he’s gonna tell her.  _ Fuck _ !”

“Tom-” Mark rose to his feet as well but Tom wasn’t in the mood to be talked down.

“You gotta leave, Mark. Fuck, you gotta leave.” He put his hands over his mouth, looking at him.

There was so much more he wanted to say.  _ I like you a lot and I’m so glad we kissed but I don’t know how my family is going to react to all this. I want you to stay forever but I don’t want to risk anything happening to you. _

Instead, in shock, he just looked at Mark with wide eyes. Mark, blank-faced, nodded and grabbed his things. He left pretty swiftly and Tom felt like crying when he watched him drive away. He needed to get out, too, he realized when he heard his mother’s bedroom door open down the hall. 

He threw on a pair of shoes, a jacket, his backpack, and grabbed his board, heading off down the dark street. No one called after him, though, and no one chased him. He could either go to Mark’s house and try to explain everything or he could go to Brandi’s house.

The choice was pretty easy to make.

When she answered the door, she was in a bright pink fuzzy robe and pajamas, looking scared, too. It was like reverse deja vu. He gestured weirdly, mouth open with no words coming out until she grabbed him by the wrist and ushered him into her room. It was dark in there until she flicked on a lamp. 

Tom wiped at his face, watching her tighten the string on her robe.

“Tom, what’s - what’s going on?” Brandi asked, crossing the room to comfort him.

Well, might as well be blunt.

“I kissed Mark.” 

“Oh,  _ shit _ .” She said and hugged him, “It’s okay, Tom.”

“It’s not.” He sniffed and hugged her back, “My brother caught us.”

Brandi held onto him tighter, “I’m so sorry.”

“My mom’s gonna fucking kill me.” Tom’s voice cracked and he gave in, letting himself freak out properly, a wet tear spot developing on Brandi’s robe.

She rubbed a soothing pattern on his back, “She won’t kill you.”

“She will.” He shook his head and even in the midst of his breakdown, he knew he was being stubborn.

“I, um, don’t know if this helps you feel… safer or anything but,” she held him at arm’s length so he could see that  _ she _ was crying, too, “I’m a lesbian.”

“But - but I thought-” Tom didn’t exactly know what he thought but she cut him off anyway.

“Some of the rumors were true.” She smiled and brushed her thumb under Tom’s eye, wiping away a tear, “You can stay here if you need to tonight.”

“Your dad-” 

“He’s doing business in the capital right now. Not sure what for but he’s gone till tomorrow evening.” Brandi explained, “So you’re safe.”

“I’m safe.” He repeated, “I’m safe.”

…

Tom was lying next to Brandi in her bed, trying to separate a blonde streak from the rest of her dark hair. She was pretending to be mildly annoyed by it but Tom ended up getting every black strand away from the blonde and sort of braided it before leaving it alone. They looked at each other and then burst into giggles.

Brandi ran her fingers over the braid, “Her name is Carmen.”

“Your girlfriend?” He asked.

“Yeah.” She smiled, “She’s everything.”

Tom watched her undo the braid and redo it better than he did while he spoke, “Everything, huh? Tell me about her.”

“She has bright green eyes and strawberry blonde hair. Her favorite flower is a tulip and her favorite color is yellow. She only ever wears tight shirts and baggy jeans and these cardigans that look like she stole them from her grandpa.” She chuckled to herself and Tom smiled. He’d never seen her so happy before, “I miss her.”

“Miss her? Does she live far?”

Brandi frowned, “No. We’re just in a bit of a rough patch right now. We got… into an ongoing argument about how I should move out. She says I’m an adult and I have friends who could house me in a safer home than this one. But it’s not that simple.”

“Yeah, I get it. You need more of a plan than to just… leave.” 

“Thank you!” She sighed, “She’ll come around eventually, I just know she gets worried about me. I’m just kinda bummed that this happened so close to the school dance, y’know? I wanted to go.”

Without thinking, he said, “You can always go with me. I kinda wanted to since it’s my last one and all.”

Brandi looked up at him then, “Really? You’d do that?”

He nodded, “Yeah. We can even match colors and I’ll buy a collage, the whole nine yards.”

“Corsage.” 

“Huh?”

“It’s called a corsage, Tom, not a collage.” She corrected.

“The flower thing, right?” He watched her nod, “Oh. I’ve been saying it wrong this whole time and no one said anything till now? Wow.”

Brandi giggled and pulled the covers up. Tom rolled his eyes and knew he was just the resident idiot a lot of people kept around. For the most part. He sighed. He fucked up a lot of things in one night. But at least he had Brandi.

“This is kind of awesome.” She said, “Now that I know you like guys. For a bit, I was worried I was leading you on.”

“So was I.” Tom admitted, “And I didn’t know about liking guys until very recently.”

Brandi’s eyebrows creased, “What do you mean?”

“I mean - kissing Mark.” He ran his hands over his face, embarrassed.

Up until then, he hadn’t really talked about it. Or thought about it. 

“We went to go set off fireworks in my old principal’s yard and when we ran back to his truck - he kissed me.” Tom rolled over to stare at the ceiling. It was easier if he didn’t have to look at her, “Super quick, I was almost convinced it didn’t happen. And then he was going to spend the night afterward and I just - I kissed him. And my brother…”

“Hey.” She said softly and rubbed his arm, “I promise it’ll be okay.”

“I know. My brother is whatever.” He waved it away, “I’m stuck on Mark. I told him to leave because I was scared of what would happen and I didn’t want him to get hurt but he looked… he wasn’t himself.”

“Seems like we both have boy issues with Mark.” She joked.

Tom laughed through his nose, “I guess.”

She seemed to have realized her mistake and quickly said, “Tell me about him like I did with Carmen. I know I already know him but… not the way you do.”

“I can’t say we know him differently.” He sighed, “I don’t know. I’m still a little freaked out that I liked kissing him.”

“It’s scary sometimes.” Brandi agreed, “It was scary for me. But the more I talked and thought about it, the less scary it got.”

Tom moved his head to look at her and gently smiled, “Okay, fine. I totally have a thing for him. I mean - he stood up for me when these kids were pricks to me at the skatepark. The very first impression of him was racing me to my house just to make sure no one fucked with me.”

“When did you realize that maybe something was different?” She asked.

Tom pursed his lips, thinking. There were many times where Mark made him nervous or made his heart skip but it wasn’t until recently that he really knew.

“There was this little basement show that Mark and I went to. Some kinda shit ska band that played good acoustic songs during the second half of the party. Mark and I were sitting on the floor together and… I just kinda looked at him and felt-” he cut himself off, not really knowing what that feeling was called, “warm. Content, maybe? And I put my head on his shoulder and he put his arm around me and I didn’t want to leave.”

When he looked over at Brandi, she had a hand over her mouth, “Sorry! That’s just… sweet.”

“But it’s weird!” He lowered his voice, not enjoying the shame he felt, “Liking him.”

“No, come on. It’s not. Mark is hot and smart and funny and an amazing friend. I can recognize that much.” She encouraged him, “Why do you like him?”

Tom sighed wistfully and decided, fuck it, “He’s just like… awesome. When people fuck with me or like - even at your party when he thought you didn’t like me, he was going to convince you I was cool.”

“That party was weird.”

“Yeah. He like bandaged me up on the fucking sidewalk after that and drove me home fucking drunk.” He chuckled, “How either of us are alive, I don’t know. But - ugh, he’s just Mark! I don’t know.”

Brandi was keen on forcing it out of him, “I think you do.”

“Fuck!” He exclaimed and grabbed a nearby pillow to shove his face into, “Mmph.”

“Huh?”

“I said,” he took the pillow away from his face briefly enough to say, “He makes me feel wanted.”

“There it is.” She giggled, “He makes you feel wanted.”

“Like I belong and shit. He fucking forced me into his friend group regardless of his friends wanted me there and included me and laughed with me and checked up on me and even when we fight about stupid things, he would come back a few hours later and we’d talk it out.” He threw the pillow aside, “And he’s so fucking pretty. Pretty! I never thought guys could be pretty.”

“He is pretty, that’s true.” Brandi agreed and sat up on her elbow, looking down at Tom, “I know he cares about you even from seeing him carrying you around that stupid party. You just - promise me you’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? I-”

“Tom.”

He paused, “Tomorrow.”

“Good.” She smiled and smoothed down a piece of Tom’s hair, “Now, go to sleep, Tom.”

“Okay.” He smiled back at her and was plunged into darkness when she turned off the bedside lamp. He reached for her in the darkness and somehow found her hand, “Brandi?”

“Hmm?” She didn’t sound annoyed, just sleepy.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I care about you, you know?” He heard her yawn.

Tom removed his hand and said, with zero difficulty, “I care about you, too, Brandi.”

…

Getting ready for school at Brandi’s was weird. He didn’t have any clean clothes or his school stuff. Brandi offered him a men’s t-shirt that Carmen had gotten her - some weird green striped polo - and took that at the very least. Pants you could wear twice but shirts were iffy. 

Lunch was a different story. Brandi went fucking missing and he couldn’t find her anywhere in the crowd but he spotted Branden’s bright red mohawk across the hall and nearly got  _ excited _ . He hadn’t had lunch with his other friends in a while and he missed them.

“Branden!” He called out to him, “Hey, dude.”

He put his hand on Branden’s shoulder, a big grin on his face until he turned around, giving Tom a death glare that could kill. He took a step back, unsure of what he did wrong.

“The fuck is your problem?” Branden asked, harsh.

“What? I don’t understand.” Tom said earnestly.

For whatever reason, that seemed to make him even madder, “Fuck, you do!”

He held out his hands, “Seriously, what did I do? What’s wrong?”

That made Branden pause, his face falling, “Are you being for real?”

“I’m not fucking with you, I promise.” He showed him his hands as if it would clear his name.

After a moment of Branden staring Tom down, he crossed his arms and said, “I caught wind you hurt Mark.”

“I-”

“Like we all get in fights and shit but Travis said you hurt him pretty good last night. Never went home, went straight to Trav.” He explained.

“Fuck. Okay… we didn’t get into a fight exactly. My mom just - just caught us doing something we shouldn’t have been doing and I was worried that Mark would get hurt or be put in danger so I told him to go home.” He pulled at his hair with one hand, feeling angry all over again, “I’m gonna talk to him after school.”

“What happened?”

“What?” He blinked.

“That you got caught doing?” He scoffed.

Tom panicked for a second until he remembered, “We set fireworks off in front of my old principal’s house.”

Branden burst into laughter, catching Tom off guard, “Oh my God, of course, you two would do that.”

“It was fun while it lasted.” Tom shrugged.

“Anyway,” Branden stood straight, “you can sit with us for lunch if you want, but if you hurt Mark anymore, dude, Travis will kill you.”

“I thought he liked me.” He followed Branden into the lunchroom.

“He likes you, yeah, but he loves Mark like a brother.” He said, “Seeing Travis when he’s angry… it’s rare but scary, for sure.”

Tom nodded, “Noted.”

…

“He’s not coming,” Brandi said behind Tom.

He’d been sitting on the curb outside of the school for a long time. Long enough, it seemed, for Brandi to be able to walk home and then walk back to the school. She sat next to him and stared at the parking lot with a frown on her face. Tom huffed. He knew that something like this would probably happen but there had been a small part of him that wished Mark would pull up like usual, Tom would get in, and they’d drive around for hours together as Tom apologized and explained and maybe even kiss him again. He really wanted to kiss him again.

Brandi sighed and ruffled Tom’s hair, making him crack a weak smile, “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

It took a gentle kick to the ribs and a helping hand to get Tom on his feet. He just supposed he would have to walk to his house and talk to him. Or see if he was at the skatepark. 

The walk to his house seemed to fly by when he asked if things were getting better between her and Carmen and if she’d found a dress for the dance yet. She wanted him to go dress shopping with her, weirdly, and asked if he was doing anything a few days from then. Things with Carmen seemed to be a bust but the thing that they were arguing about was different.

“Travis has this girlfriend yeah? Super nice, knows everything about me because of him and she offered to let me move in with her. Since I’m 18 and all. She has an apartment a few miles from the school. You know that complex by the Arby’s they tore down last year?” She turned to him.

“Uh…”

“Right, you didn’t live in this town until recently. Well anyway, that’s where it is.” She turned the corner onto Tom’s street and paused, “Oh my God, he did it.”

“That - fuck, that’s Mark’s truck.” He put the skateboard that he’d been carrying on the ground, “Thanks for walking me home, Brandi.”

“No problem.” She gave him a smile and called after him as he rode away, “Good luck!”

He’d never skated so fast in his goddamn life. Mark wasn’t in his truck, he noticed, but rather sitting on the edge of the truck bed, swinging his feet. If he was smarter, he wouldn’t have been as excited as he was to see him. 

Tom watched him hop down and close the gate, “Hey.”

“Hi, Tommy.” He said, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking up at the house, “Are you ready?”

“What?” He stared at Mark, his heart about to spring out of his chest with nerves.

Mark was patient, though, “Brandi called my house, sort of cleared some things up for me.”

“I thought you went to Travis.” 

He couldn’t believe Mark was there.

“Wait,” he paused, realizing, “Brandi called you? When?”

“Uh, a few hours ago.” He laughed awkwardly, “And I got home like ten minutes before she did.”

Tom scoffed and looked at the house, too, “So that’s why she came back to the school.”

Mark was sort of watching him, amused. 

“Anyway. Not to be… rude but why are you here? Exactly, um.” He scratched at his neck, ignoring the fact his hands were shaking.

He took a step toward the porch, not looking at Tom, “I had to do this once before and it sucked. I just thought maybe you would want someone there.”

Tom watched him take another step and he reached out, quickly, grabbing his hand, “Mark! Mark, I’m sorry. I was scared.”

The smile on his face was sad. He squeezed Tom’s hand once before letting go, “I know, Tom. It’s alright. Now… are you ready?”

He took in a deep breath and nodded, “I think so.”

Tom wanted nothing more than to hold Mark’s hand as they walked up to the porch. His mom met them at the door, looking pissed beyond belief. She didn’t yell at them like he expected, though, and instead opened the door to let them both in. 

“Kitchen.” She said, pointing toward the doorway.

Tom and Mark sat down at the table and she waited until they were seated to be angry.

“Where the hell were you!?” She demanded, staring down at Tom.

“I - I went to a friend’s after everything, Mom!” He told her.

Her eyes darted over to Mark, “Your place?”

“No ma’am.” He shook his head, “And if it helps, I currently live with my own mom.”

“Which friend?” She looked back at Tom.

He might as well tell her the truth, “Her name is Brandi but she’s a lesbian, Mom, she just gave me somewhere to stay for the night.”

“A lesbian.” She ran her hand through her hair, pacing in front of them, “And you two!”

She gestured between them erratically.

“Shon told me he saw you two…” 

The hand motion she made was obscene, even for Tom.

“No!” Tom and Mark said in unison.

“Oh my God, not even close, Mom!” He groaned, hitting the table, “I’m gonna kick Shon’s ass.”

“Then what were you two doing that your brother had to wake me up for? Hmm?” She crossed her arms.

“I - we were-”

“We kissed.” Mark finished for him, “Sorry.”

“That’s it?” She scoffed, “He made it out like you two were… whatever! I was pissed because I thought you disobeyed me. We have one rule. And it applies to boys, too, you know that.”

Tom stared at her, “You aren’t mad…?”

“I’m mad you ran away, that you didn’t tell me where you were! I’m not mad you two are gay or whatever you are. You’re going to be grounded from something because of running away. Even  _ if _ you came back. Worried me sick all night.” She sat down at the table with them, her demeanor changing, “I’ll kick Shon’s butt for you, though. I don’t like liars. But, Tom…”

She held his hand across the table and sent a smile to Mark, “I’ll admit that this is quite a surprise for me but I’m not mad. I - I’m concerned because I know that life will be hard but, uh, I’ve seen how happy Mark makes you. From the very first day you met him. Covered in scrapes but you couldn’t stop smiling.”

He nearly felt like crying, “Thank you.”

“We can talk more about what this all means - rule changes and things - later tonight, alright?” She put her hands back in her lap, “I have a phone call to make.”

Tom just watched her get up before he realized, “Wait! Don’t - don’t tell Dad.”

“Oh! No, honey, I’m calling your brother.” She explained and when Tom visibly relaxed, she turned the corner into the hallway.

It was quiet for a second until Mark turned to him and said, “You wanna get out of here?”

“More than anything.” Tom breathed out and followed Mark out to his truck.

There was an air of awkwardness, especially after a weirdly accepting display his mother did back there but Mark was tapping the steering wheel along to the radio next to him and that’s all that mattered. They didn’t drive for very long, pulling into a gas station parking lot. Mark got out and, ever so discreetly, put his hand on Tom’s lower back.

“We’re grabbing some soda and snacks. Then I wanna take you somewhere cool.” He walked past him and went into the store, leaving Tom to catch up with him, a little out of breath.

And it wasn’t because of the short jog he did from the truck to the door.

He snagged a bag of chips and a coke from the fridge, turning around to go and find Mark only to see him right behind him, “You good?”

“Yeah.” He said.

Mark was being a little strange. Or maybe he was being how he always was and after their kiss (or two), his usual closeness felt suffocating. But as quick as they’d come, Mark paid for everything, and they left. Tom didn’t know what to expect in regards to where Mark was taking him, but when he started driving to the outskirts of town, he got curious.

“So… what’s this cool place?” He asked, a bit nervous.

He grinned, “You’ll see.”

Tom nodded, giving in to the element of surprise. But he couldn’t take the silence. His brain just kept buzzing with what-ifs and hows and just  _ everything _ . He decided that if Mark didn’t want to make light conversation, he’d just jump straight into it.

“Mark, that night in my bedroom,” he started off carefully, watching Mark turn down the stereo, “I know I already apologized and told you I was scared but I just wanted to say that… what we did? Uh, I still stand by it, y’know. My brother is an asshole who never really liked me anyway so the fact that he had something personal to hold over my head like that, I just freaked out. If I had known my mom would be so - so cool about this, I would’ve asked you to stay.”

Mark smiled, looking at the road, “I understand, okay? Fuck, when my mom found out that my best friend for forever had been my boyfriend, it was chaos. She caught us doing something way less innocent than what  _ we _ had been doing.”

Shit.

“I’m so sorry.”

He waved his hand, “We’re fine now, my mom and I. When that went down with your brother, it just felt like that again. And I realized that about halfway through my drive to Travis’s place that that was the reason why I felt like I had. When Brandi called me, I just - I decided that I wouldn’t do what I did last time. Freak out and never talk to you again.”

“Fuck. Uh, can I ask what she told you?” He chuckled nervously.

Mark giggled, not as nervously as Tom, “She said that she knew you wouldn’t talk to me how we needed to about everything. Kinda told me what you told her. That I make you feel wanted.”

Tom wanted to explode. He hid his face in his hands and groaned when Mark reached over to pat him reassuringly.

“I thought it was sweet.” He admitted, “But anyway. She said to meet you at your house. She said I would know what to do. And it took me a minute but eventually I knew.”

“I’m glad you did.” Tom said, letting his head hit the seat behind him, “I never know what I’m doing ever.”

“It doesn’t get better, Tommy, trust me.” He reached over and put his hand on Tom’s thigh, giving him the world’s sappiest smile.

Now he wanted to explode for different reasons.

He withdrew his hand, “You mean what you said? About standing with what we did?”

“Yeah,” Tom said emphatically.

Mark just nodded, though, “Cool.”

The silence between them wasn’t so awkward anymore. It wasn’t exactly comfortable silence but it wasn’t awkward. Mark drove the two of them up into higher elevation. Tom hadn’t been near the mountains or anything resembling them for a long time. They didn’t park at the very top like Tom had expected, but rather at the very first stretch of flat land. Mark turned the engine off, grabbed his drink and snacks, getting out of the truck. Tom followed him with his things. 

The view…

He could see the entire city and potentially neighboring ones, too. It was a sea of buildings and lights, the pink-orange sunset casting big, colorful shadows on the scene below him. Where the shadows were growing, more lights were turning on. One stretch of land was blinding to look at, the sun hitting it hard while the other stretch of land was turning a dim blue, street lights turning on every few seconds. Tom didn’t realize he was staring until the loud metallic sound of Mark jumping into the hood startled him out of his daze.

“I used to come here a lot by myself.” Mark said, looking out over the city, “Made me feel less small.”

Tom joined him on the hood of the truck, opening his soda bottle, “It’s beautiful.”

“I used to hate living in California. I wanted to move to New York or New Jersey where punk bands were starting to take off, y’know?” He paused, “But then I found myself up here one day.”

“Does no one else come up?” He asked.

“They do, they just go to the top.” He explained, “Everyone wants to see the giant cross up there but I think this view is better.”

Tom looked from the cityscape to Mark’s profile. Mark was pretty. The setting sun had the same effect on his features as it did with the town. The high points of his face were highlighted in pink and orange and the low parts of his face looked more angular than usual. Mark opened the bag of Chex Mix he’d gotten but didn’t eat anything. He looked down at the bag for a second, sighed, and then looked at Tom. So fucking pretty.

“I think the best way to say what I want to is to just… tell you.” He paused, “I like you. A lot. And I’d really… I’d really like to be more than just your friend, Tommy.”

He swallowed, “I like it when you call me that.”

That made Mark laugh, “Figured as much.”

“I love being your friend but I’d like to be more, too.” He said quickly, realizing that he hadn’t responded to what Mark had told him.

He smiled, looking down at his bag of Chex Mix, this time taking something out and eating it, “Nice.”

“Nice,” Tom repeated and opened his own bag of chips.

It was after Mark took a drink, that he said, “I know I’m being… weird about this. You’ve got to have questions.”

“What does this mean? Like… for us. And our friends.” He blurted, immediately shoving a chip in his mouth afterward.

Mark sat back, sort of looking at Tom, sort of looking past him, “Well, they all know that I like dudes. I think now is when I say that I’m usually the bi guy at the party.”

“You were way too passionate about that Gatsby theory for someone else to have made it up.” Tom chuckled and Mark nudged him playfully with his foot.

“It’s a good theory, dammit.” He rolled his eyes, “So if we were to start being more affectionate or, uh, kiss around them, the most they would do is ask if we were dating. Maybe ask if you’re gay or bisexual or whatever. No one has a problem with me so no one will have a problem with you.”

He sighed, “Okay. I was worried. Uh, another question.”

“Shoot.”

“So when Travis said you had a crush on me at that basement show-”

“He was telling the truth, yeah.” Mark had this weird smile on his face, rubbing his forehead, “He’s an ass sometimes. Expect him to tease you.”

Tom nodded, fiddling with the cap on the soda bottle. He didn’t look up when he asked, “So what kind of… are we, um, together?”

A warm breeze passed by them and moved Tom’s hair. He sat up and looked over at Mark, watching him scoot closer, “You can say the word, Tom, no one else is here.”

“Are we boyfriends?” He bit his lip, nervous.

Mark reached over and touched Tom’s wrist, “I’m anything you want me to be.”

That was the last fucking straw. Tom put his hand over Mark’s and said, “Kiss me.”

He didn’t even hesitate. He put his hand on the back of Tom’s neck and kissed him. Sharply, he took in a breath, shocked that he actually did it. The hand on his neck traveled down to his back, trying to bring him closer. Tom immediately pressed himself against Mark the best he could while sitting on the hood of a truck. It was Tom who actually got brave enough to use tongue, going from just a kiss to making out in a second flat.

“Shit,” Mark whispered when he broke away.

Gently, Tom kissed his jaw, “What?”

“I just - I never would’ve thought I’d be able to do this with you.” He admitted and when Tom sat back, he was blushing.

“Mark,” he cupped his cheek, “don’t make fun of me for this.”

“Okay?” He chuckled.

“I think you’re the prettiest person I’ve ever met,” Tom said earnestly, so much so that Mark’s smile fell.

“Tom…”

“You can’t make fun of me!” He objected and kissed him, quick.

“I wasn’t going to!” He laughed and did what Tom did to him, grabbing him by his shirt collar and kissing him. That one lasted a bit longer than Tom’s had, though, “You think I’m pretty.”

“I think you’re pretty.” He nodded, “And smart, and funny, and sweet, and-”

Mark shushed him, “Shhh! Oh my God. You’ve already established that you like me, Tommy, what more do you want?”

He thought about being an ass for a second but decided against it, “To let you know why.”

“God.” Mark huffed and moved away to lay on the windshield. He looked absolutely infatuated, “Does that mean I get to say why I like you?”

Tom laid next to him, “Depends.”

“Roughly for all the same reasons but mostly because I’ve never met someone so alike and yet so different from me.” He said, “You asked me to set off fireworks in a stranger’s yard and yet you’re scared of ramps.”

“Cause ramps mean falling off the side of them. And I’m not  _ scared _ of them. After you told those pricks to fuck off that one day, halfpipes make me horny.” He rolled his eyes like it was obvious.

“And see! Like that! We could go back and forth for hours. We have, even. It drives Travis insane, did you know that?” He gave Tom this fascinated look that made him want to kiss him.

“No, but now I’m very excited to see him again.” 

Mark laughed, looking up toward the sky, “Oh my God.”

And just cause he could, he inched closer to Mark and grabbed his hand, holding it in the space between them. When he glanced over, Mark was smiling, covering it with his free hand. Tom was so fucked, seriously.

“I’m going to the dance. With Brandi.” He said, “As friends.”

That made Mark stop, “Yeah?”

“We’re going dress shopping soon. She wants me to come and I thought, well, maybe you would wanna come with us. I have a suit but the last time I wore it, I was 11. So I will also be buying a suit.” He shrugged a shoulder, “You could try on dresses.”

“I am pretty hot in a dress.” He chuckled, “Yeah, as long as Brandi doesn’t mind me there, I’d love to come.”

Something in his chest swelled, “Awesome.”

They didn’t stay up there for much longer. Just long enough to finish their snacks and talk about the dance. And to make out for like five minutes but that was just water under the bridge. Except it totally wasn’t because when Mark dropped him off at his house, once again blowing kisses at him from the truck, Tom had to rush in to his room and scream into a damn pillow like a fucking  _ girl _ . Mark made him feel like he was walking on air. The only way Tom didn’t float off into the atmosphere was because of Mark’s arm around his waist when he kissed him.

Tom stared at the ceiling for what felt like forever until he remembered that he hadn’t exactly asked Brandi if Mark could go dress shopping with them. 

…

Brandi stood in front of the mirror, flattening down the green dress she was wearing. Tom stood next to her, thinking that the dress…

“It’s ugly,” Brandi said.

Tom sighed, “Thank God you said something.”

She swatted at him, “You’re supposed to tell me if you hate it!”

“I don’t wanna sound mean!” He put up his hands.

“I want you to be mean, DeLonge.” Brandi huffed, “I love green but all the damn dresses are ugly.”

Behind them, the dressing room curtain opened. Mark had been missing for a bit so when Tom turned around and saw him, he was surprised to see him. But even more surprised to see him wearing a dress. It was really simple - a purple straight-across neckline with two thin straps holding it up. He looked like an ametuer drag queen who didn’t know how to do makeup yet with how his hair was sticking up. Tom covered his mouth with his hands and started laughing.

Any attempt to muffle it didn’t work.

“What? You said I should try on dresses.” He struck a pose.

Brandi turned around, “What the actual fuck, Mark.

“Do I really look that bad?” He asked.

Tom went over to smooth down the pieces of his hair that were out of place, “I wouldn’t say  _ bad _ .”

“Wait,” Brandi said and called over the lady who ran the dress shop. The woman looked mortified at Mark but Brandi snapped her out of it by saying, “Do you have that dress in a size 8?”

The woman stuttered for a moment before nodding and leaving again. The three of them exchanged glances and started giggling. Tom had been expecting the dress shopping adventure to be weird since both he and Mark weren’t exactly experts on women’s formal fashion. 

“Tommy, can I ask a favor?” Mark laughed, pulling him toward the dressing room, “I think the zipper is stuck.”

Tom sighed and followed him into the dressing room, half expecting it to be some elaborate scheme for Mark to feel him up in public but the dress zipper was honest to god stuck.

“Oh my God, you weren’t kidding.” Tom said, pulling on the zipper, “Suck it in real quick.”

Sharply, he took in a breath and sucked in his gut. Tom managed to pinch the sides of the dress together long enough for the zipper to budge. 

“I can’t believe you actually put on a dress without any of us noticing.” Tom shook his head, taken off guard when Mark pressed a quick kiss to his lips, “Mmm! Oh, what was that for?”

“I can’t afford this dress if I broke the zipper, dude.” He whispered, “That’s why. Thank you. Now get out so I can protect my modesty!”

He shoved Tom out of the dressing room. He swatted the curtain away and giggled to himself as Mark fixed it back into place. When he looked back over, Brandi was in the purple dress that he’d just helped Mark out of. Guess they must’ve had another dressing room.

“Oh,  _ wow. _ ” He said before he could help himself.

“What?” Brandi turned away from the mirror, startled, “Is it bad?”

“No! You - it, um, it looks really nice.” He swallowed, “You should get it.”

“Yeah?” She turned back toward the mirror and moved this way and that, “We gotta find you a matching dress shirt then.”

It was strange. Tom’s chest felt warm when he looked at Brandi checking herself out in the mirror. Not in a way that meant he liked her but just… seeing her so happy made  _ him _ happy. A moment later, Mark came out of the dressing room and essentially said the same thing that Tom did but a lot louder.

“Holy shit!” He grinned, “Dude, that dress looks a thousand times better on you.”

“Okay! Oh my God, you guys are doing wonders for my ego right now.” She giggled and stepped away from the mirror. She snagged her clothes off of a nearby chair, “Go ask for a dress shirt that matches this. I wanna see you try on that suit.”

Tom groaned and did as told. The woman seemed less put off by him, finding the dress shirt for him along with the suit they’d picked out earlier in the day. There was indeed a second dressing room on the other side of the store and when he came out fully dressed (and insanely nervous), the reaction he got was mixed.

He pulled on his tie and stood in front of Brandi and Mark who had taken to the chairs by the large mirror. 

Mark had an unreadable look on his face but Brandi was all smiles. She brought her hands to her face and said, “Tom… you look perfect.”

And there it was. He knew he was turning pink and had no way to hide it. The suit and the shirt and the tie all fit super nicely. The only thing out of place were his Converse. 

“Doesn’t he look good, Mark?” Brandi nudged him.

He nodded hastily, “Yeah! Yeah, um. You look… you look really nice, Tommy.”

Tom looked down at his shoes, “Thanks, Mark.”

…

It wasn’t so much of a party but more like a get-together. There wasn’t anybody there that Tom hadn’t met before and there wasn’t a band playing music he didn’t like in the corner of the living room. Just his friends, their girlfriends, some of the girlfriends’ friends, and his boyfriend. He loved thinking about it.  _ Boyfriend _ . It made him giddy, almost. Saying it out loud was even worse. When he had told Brandi over the phone that Mark and him were dating, a red face and hushed giggles had followed the words ‘my boyfriend’.

Everyone was fairly positive toward the news that Mark was finally cuffed. There were a handful of disappointed faces from girls Tom had seen flirt with Mark before but otherwise, no issues at all. The most surprising reaction, though, had been from Travis.

“Trav! Have you met my boyfriend yet?” Mark snickered, running up to Travis with Tom not too far behind, holding both his and Mark’s drinks.

There was that word again.

“Boyfriend?” Travis locked eyes with Tom and grinned, “No way.”

Mark just smiled right back, “Yeah.”

“Sweet!” He clapped Mark on the back, seemingly as happy as the couple in front of him, “Glad you two finally worked it out.”

Tom handed Mark his drink and promptly put his arm around him, “So am I.”

“I was worried for a minute there, Tom,” he chuckled, “when Mark came over to my house that night, I was prepared to hide a body.”

“Uh.”

He nudged Tom playfully, “Only half-joking.”

Later, when the stereo was hooked up and everyone had a drink or two, Branden sought him out of the crowd. Mark had kissed Tom on the forehead before going off to harass ‘whoever put on this record’, leaving Tom to stand against the wall and watch him. Branden stood next to him, sending a look to Mark and then back to Tom.

“You’re gay?”

“No, I’m Tom.”

“Tom.” Branden rolled his eyes.

He nodded, “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Dude, you know what I meant.” He mumbled into his cup, taking a drink.

It was fun being an asshole so he said, “If you’re asking me if I’m dating Mark, then the answer is yes.”

“Well, I figured that much. He’s been all over you.” He looked over to where Mark had gone and Tom followed his gaze.

He was leafing through a box of records, pulling a few out that he liked, making faces to himself. Looked like Tom was driving them home.

He swirled his mostly orange juice drink around in his cup, “I’ll be honest with you, Branden, I’m not too sure what I am. All I know is I really like Mark. That’s the best answer I have for you right now.”

Branden shifted awkwardly, “I offended you.”

“No,” he huffed, facing him, “it’s all very new. Trust me, it’s not you.”

There was a long pause. Tom watched Mark choose between the records he’d put on the floor.

“You seem happy, though.” He broke the silence, “Hell, Mark’s been in a better mood since he met you. So… I guess what I’m saying is, I wish the best for you guys.”

And as awkwardly as he had come, he left with the same awkwardness.

“I bet this doesn’t happen to straight couples.” He said to himself.

He’d had girlfriends before but it was never a big deal. It was always hey, this is his girlfriend and then they’d go back to talking about the latest episode of whatever. But he supposed he’d rather have awkward support than none at all. 

Mark passed the record he wanted to be played to the poor guy near the stereo system and made his way back over to Tom. Just like Branden had, he leaned against the wall next to him. Instead of asking if he was gay, though, he reached over and smoothed down Tom’s hair.

“Just got asked if I was gay,” Tom said unprompted.

“Yeah, that happens.” He sighed, “What did you say?”

He shrugged, “Just said that I like you and that’s all I do know.”

“Aww, that’s sweet.” Mark grinned at him. He sat his cup down on a nearby window sill and put his hands on Tom’s shoulder, startlingly serious, “You’ve got your whole life to find a word, okay, Tommy?”

He paused, realizing that Mark actually wanted an answer, “Okay, yeah.”

“Plus, you already have a pretty good word right now. Mark Hoppus’s boyfriend.” He gestured outward.

“That’s three words.”

The look he was given was deserved. 

“I have three more.” He said, “Kiss my ass.”

Tom kissed his cheek and chuckled, “Butt face.”

“If there were no witnesses right now I would make you take that back,” Mark warned him.

“Threaten me again, that was kind of sexy.” He teased right back, taking pride in the way Mark’s face changed.

He dropped his hands from Tom’s shoulders, “You’re gonna kill me one day.”

“Promises.” Tom smiled and watched Mark get pulled away for a game of beer pong.

He couldn’t wait till they were alone again.

...

“Mom quit it.” He brushed her away from touching his hair again, “It looks fine.”

She sighed but left him be, “Okay. Now go stand in front of the door, I’m taking a picture. Shame Brandi isn’t here.”

“I’m taking her. If you want a picture, I’m sure her mom can make you a copy.” He mumbled.

“Oh! Yes, ask her if she can make a copy.” She grinned, moving the camera up to her eye.

Tom moved to stand in front of the door and reluctantly smiled. The camera flash made his eyes water. When he could see properly, Kari was standing next to his mom.

“You look-”

“Stupid, I know.”

“I wasn’t gonna say that!” She turned to their mom as if to tell her the same thing.

Tom was quick, though, and snagged the corsage (not collage) off the counter, “Be back at midnight!”

He shut the door just as his mom protested the time. And even though he was wearing a fucking suit, he skated all the way to Brandi’s house. He didn’t know how her parents agreed to let her go to the dance with Tom, the kid who got expelled from his last damn school. Or maybe she didn’t tell them much about him. Granted, she was pretty good at lying.

He knocked on the door and patiently waited, almost excited to go to the dance. He’d never expected to actually go to a school dance with a girl and be excited about it. Even if the girl in question had a girlfriend and Tom had a boyfriend. He waited for a few minutes before knocking again, turning to sit on the porch swing so he didn’t nervously tap his foot.

It was all worth it, though, because when Brandi walked out of the house, she looked like a damn painting. 

He told her as much, “Holy shit, you’re beautiful.”

“Tom…”

“Language.” Her mother warned, stepping out behind her, “You must be Tom. I’ve heard absolutely nothing about you.”

He looked between the two of them and the wink from her mom plus the embarrassed look from Brandi said it all.

She waved a camera in her hand, “If you cooperate, this will all be over soon.”

That made Tom chuckle. He picked up the box with the corsage in it. Brandi had picked out white roses and lavender and Tom struggled to put it on her wrist as her mom watched them, amused. Eventually, though, he got it on and went to pose with Brandi. Her mom actually took a few pictures. They did the stereotypical awkward prom photo pose, one casually side by side, and at the very end, Brandi snuck a kiss onto Tom’s cheek, followed by a whispered apology.

He had a feeling that his mom was going to want more than one copy of that last photo. 

“You really do look nice,” Tom said, walking her down the street to the school, arm in arm only because she kept tripping in her new heels.

She rolled her eyes, “I dress up once and suddenly I’m Cinderella?”

“If you keep tripping like that, you’re bound to lose a shoe so yeah.” He grinned, unphased when she pinched his arm.

When they got to the high school, it was pretty straightforward: give them your name and the ticket and they let you inside. The usually dull as fuck gymnasium was decked out in 1920s style art deco designs. It was a lot of gold and dark green and pale silver. There was jazz music blasting in the background and tables filled with bouquets of white flowers. Tom wondered how the hell the school could afford such a thing but from what he had heard from other students, they were sort of infamous for their dances. 

Brandi stared at the crowd of students with a scared look on her face so Tom pulled her along toward the punch bowl and grabbed them both a cup.

“First dance?” He asked.

“Could you tell?” She chuckled, “A room full of people who hate me dressed in formal wear, what could go wrong?”

Behind them, a female voice said, “Hey, Brandi.”

Tom turned around but didn’t recognize the girl until Brandi said, “Carmen.”

Carmen was in a teal, one-strap dress. She regarded Tom with a smile before looking back to Brandi, “Can we talk?”

“How did you - why are you-”

She cut Brandi off, “Your friend Bert let me be his plus one. Can’t exactly show up to a school dance when I don’t go to the school.”

“Bert?” She looked all over the room and Tom followed her gaze to Branden and the others in a corner, drinking out of a flask while their girlfriends stood and watched.

“It doesn’t matter.” Carmen shook her head, “Mind if I steal her?”

Tom stepped back, “Go ahead, yeah.”

He watched the two of them disappear into the crowd. It was weird to hear about someone for so long and then meet them. Carmen didn’t look anything like he pictured her in his mind but that wasn’t a bad thing, per se. He decided to just sit down and wait for them on the side of the room. He took a seat on a metal fold up chair and sipped on his punch for five minutes. 

Then ten. Then twenty. 

And by the time, it hit thirty, he decided to go looking for them. 

Carmen and Brandi were on the dance floor, slow dancing. They were smiling at each other, swaying to the jazz music coming from the speakers. The lights went dimmer in the room and they kissed in the privacy of it. Tom felt weird for staring and weird in general so he threw his cup away and went out the back gym door that led to the parking lot.

He should be happy that they were together. They seemed happy and sweet, y’know? But he wished that Brandi would have said that she was going to basically ditch him for the night. It sucked. He kicked at a rock and sat on the parking curb. 

A bisexual dude takes a lesbian to prom and gets stood up halfway through the dance. It sounded like the start to a bad joke.

“Hey, Tommy.” 

Tom looked up and saw Mark approaching him.

In a suit.

“Mark?” He asked, taking his hand when he offered to help Tom stand, “What are you…?”

“Branden. Said that one of his buddies invited Brandi’s girlfriend to the dance. Knowing her, he said she might ditch you.” He chuckled, “I actually can’t believe you’re out here.”

“Well, I don’t exactly want to be in there.” He gestured back to the school where he could still hear muffled music. With a huff, he said, “I’m glad that Brandi and her girlfriend are on better terms but - I don’t know. I was excited to go to the dance with her. Have fun. Be a little stupid, y’know?”

“I know. And who’s to say we can’t do that?” He started walking away, motioning for Tom to follow, “Come on.”

Without hesitation, he followed Mark to his truck and got inside. Mark was full of surprises recently it seemed. Instead of driving for forever and not telling Tom where they were going, he simply said they were going toward higher elevations.

They ended up at the same spot they had been after confronting Tom’s mom. This time, instead of snacks and confessions, Mark turned the truck off, left the key in, and turned his stereo up.

It took Tom way too long to realize what was going on.

Mark held out his hand almost nervously, “I know your dance didn’t go as planned so… how about I make it up to you?”

The Cure was playing in the background. Tom could hear crickets around them. It was so quiet and it was just them again underneath the stars on a mountain he’d only been to twice.

Tom took his hand, trying hard not to smile like an idiot, “Okay.”

Their dance was more of a sway with some added steps seeing as the two of them were punk kids who didn’t take waltzing classes. His right hand was in Mark’s and his left hand was on Mark’s shoulder. Surprisingly, the hand on Tom’s waist didn’t slide lower or get grabby. Mark was actually kind of being… romantic. It made Tom feel lightheaded.

Just Like Heaven was playing from the truck when he let his head fall forward onto Mark’s shoulder. Sure, he was taller than Mark by like 4 inches, but he always made him feel so - so… not small, exactly. Small was a bad word for it.

Held? Loved? Wanted? Like a puddle of steaming goo? Check all that apply.

Loved… now that was a new word. 

Tom had to say something. Something that would make Mark understand.

“I appreciate… you doing this for me.” He started off carefully.

Mark chuckled, “A man deserves a good dance. Even if it’s on a mountain listening to goth music.”

That made Tom laugh. He stood up straight so he could look at him. Using the hand that had been on Mark’s shoulder, Tom cupped his face, “And you’re wearing a damn suit. You look amazing.”

“Oh, stop. I doubt I look any better than Brandi tonight.” He blushed.

“Brandi is pretty in her own way but you look fucking amazing, Mark Hoppus.” Tom kissed him just to prove it, “You did all this for me based on a phone call from Branden. Plus, Brandi ditched me anyway.”

“Are you mad at her?”

Tom shook his head, “No. I was, but not anymore.”

Mark released one hand on him but kept holding Tom’s hand. After a beat, Tom realized what Mark was trying to do and laughed, moving out to stand by his side, and then spinning back to him. Mark locked his arms around Tom, his chest to his back, and moved them side to side. Everything about this was ridiculous but Tom was genuinely happy. So much that it hurt to smile.

Behind him, Mark sighed, “I’m glad your old school kicked you out.”

Shocked, Tom laughed, “Oh my God. Yeah. Same here.”

“Even more glad those skatepark pricks stole your board.” He went on, “We should repaint the side they drew on.”

“Nah. I kinda like it. Covering it up would mean that they won.” Tom replied.

Mark said, “Huh. Never thought about it that way.”

“Well, now you have.” He giggled.

It wasn’t quiet for too long until Mark said, “You can say no to this because it is a little sudden but - do you wanna come home? With me?”

Of all things he expected, that was not one of them. He paid attention to how Mark phrased it. Not ‘at my house’ but ‘with me’. He wanted Tom to spend the night with him. And he had a feeling that he didn’t mean a sleepover.

Tom realized he hadn’t said anything and blurted, “Yeah. Yeah, Mark, I’d like that.”

... 

They stopped by Tom’s house so he could grab a thing or two. Mark had argued that Tom should wear his clothes instead but there was no way he was sharing Mark’s toothbrush. His mom, surprisingly, didn’t come out of her room when he closed the door behind him. The two of them went into Tom’s room quietly. Mark just sort of stood around while Tom snagged relatively clean clothes and shoved them into a bag. He was just about to go get his things from the bathroom but then he caught sight of Mark.

Staring at his bed. Or rather, the floor in front of his bed.

“Mark,” he said and just for the hell of it, kissed his cheek, “come on.”

“Right.” He nodded, “Let’s go to my place.”

Tom snagged his stuff from the bathroom and they left. 

Mark’s mom wasn’t home when they got to the apartment. Tom meant to ask why but Mark was all over him the moment they made it into his room. Tom dropped the bag he’d been holding, almost shocked. 

He’d been a little touchy before but nothing more than a joke and would stop automatically right after. Like jokingly sliding his hand toward Tom’s ass when they cuddled but stopping before he got there. Or purposefully putting his hand high up on Tom’s thigh when they drove around together. Other than tiny little instances like that, Mark had actually been kind of… respectful.

And now he was kissing Tom against his closed bedroom door, fumbling his hands over the buttons on Tom’s suit jacket. From zero to a hundred real fast.

“Fuck,” Mark pulled away, “this is probably your first time with a guy, isn’t it.”

“Yeah.” Tom breathed, putting a hand on Mark’s shoulder, “I’ve - with girls but not boys.”

“How far…?” 

He didn’t have to say the rest of the sentence for Tom to say, “I don’t think I’m, uh, ready for all the way.”

“I wasn’t my first time with a guy either.” Mark empathized and guided Tom over to his mattress, “Okay. If you ever want me to stop, just tell me and I will.”

“Okay.” He took in a breath when Mark reached for his dress shirt, “Careful. Mom will kill me if I wrinkle anything.”

That made him laugh, head falling to look down at the sheets, “God. Tom, you’re fascinating. You’re about to make love and the thing you’re worried about is wrinkling your suit?”

There was that word again. Love.

“Well, she ironed it for forever.” He shrugged.

Mark loosened Tom’s tie carefully and let it drop to the floor, starting a slow pace on the shirt buttons. He’d asked Mark to be careful and now he was just fucking with him. He’d gotten three buttons down in what felt like two minutes and Tom had had just about enough of that.

“Go faster.” He told him.

“You don’t want me to wrinkle your suit, you want me to go faster…” He teased.

Tom just huffed and pulled Mark forward by his own tie, kissing him roughly. 

It seemed that Mark got the memo then and got to work on the buttons with a newfound speed. Tom tried his best to do the same for Mark but their arms collided awkwardly and they broke the kiss. Mark sat back and pulled off his jacket and tie. Tom pushed his unbuttoned dress shirt off his shoulders just in time to be met with an equally as undressed Mark. They’d already taken their shoes off by the door so really all Tom had to do was take off his pants. 

Suddenly the room was boiling hot.

Mark reached out and touched Tom’s collarbone, tracing the shape of it and moving down to the center of his chest. He knew that Mark could feel his heart beating so fucking fast but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he just kissed Tom sweetly, his hand gradually sliding lower until it hit the waist of his pants.

At that point, Tom was more than turned on at that point. Every gentle touch Mark supplied made him feel like he was shaking. With one hand, he undid Tom’s belt and popped the button to his pants. He broke the kiss and gave him a slack-jawed smile, moving to kiss down his chest. Tom honestly forgot how to breathe when Mark kissed just below his navel and unzipped his pants.

“Lift your hips.” He said.

Tom did as told and Mark slipped his pants off, putting them on the floor with everything else. Well. If Mark hadn’t felt Tom’s hard on being all pressed up against him, he could definitely see it now. Tom wasn’t nervous or scared exactly but he felt like he should be. But the way Mark kept looking up at him, making sure Tom was still 100% with him… he felt safe more than anything.

With his thumb, Mark traced his length through his underwear, “I’m gonna blow you, okay?”

“Oh, fuck.” Tom swallowed, “Yeah.”

It seemed like it happened in slow motion. Mark pulled his waistband down until it sat at his mid-thigh. Without much warning, Mark took him in hand and licked the tip of his cock. Tom nearly jumped, looking down only to see his boyfriend smiling at him. Tom let out a weak laugh.

He was past playing games after that and took Tom into his mouth. Shit. Fuck. Mark obviously had been with dudes before. Tom understood the gist of a blowjob just from stuff he knew he liked but he guessed it was something that was better in practice than in theory. Tom reached down and ran his fingers through Mark’s hair, feeling his hand move with his head, bobbing up and down. 

“Shit,” Tom whispered, letting his head fall back for a second, only looking up when Mark went from sucking him off to jacking him slowly.

“Getting close?” He asked, voice low.

He felt a fucking shiver down his spine. How was Mark fucking  _ real _ , “Yeah.”

“You can cum in my mouth.” Mark rubbed his lips lightly against Tom’s dick, “If you want.”

“Oh my God.” He whined and when Mark put him back into his mouth, it didn’t take very long for Tom to finish.

He pulled on Mark’s hair, trying to warn him but he probably already knew based on the short, high-pitched noises Tom was making. His hips bucked, pushing himself farther into Mark’s mouth. Somehow, he didn’t choke and pulled off when Tom calmed down, licking his goddamn lips.

“You,” Mark said and climbed up the bed to kiss Tom, “look at you.”

Huh. He tasted himself on Mark’s lips but he wasn’t grossed out by it, “Look at me?”

“You’re so fucking-” he cut himself off, undoing his pants, “beautiful, Tommy, so fucking beautiful.”

He was sort of hovering over Tom, kissing his jaw and trying to take his own pants off at the same time. Tom put his hand on Mark’s chest and stopped him.

“I wanna jerk you off.” He said.

“Fuck.” He sighed and got off of him, sitting on the edge of the bed to kick his dress pants off along with his boxers.

He came back over to Tom, lying next to him. He rolled over onto his side to face Mark and took in the sight before him.

“You have a nipple piercing.” He stated, “When did you get that?”

“I’ve had it for a while.” Mark said with a grin.

“I guess I’ve just… never noticed it then.” 

“Are you usually staring at my nipples?”

“Not really.” Tom smiled.

“Then that’s why you haven’t noticed.” He shook his head and leaned forward, kissing Tom, “But I’ll give you plenty of time to.”

Tom copied what Mark had done earlier and gently ran a hand over his chest, stopping just above his belly button. Mark was… well… his dick was big. Bluntly put. And he was as hard as a rock. He became almost fascinated that Mark could fucking hide this fact from him for so long. He reached down and ran his fingers up his length lightly. 

Mark let out a breath, “God, don’t be a tease.”

Tom took that personally and wrapped his hand around his cock, taking delight in the fact that precum was leaking onto his hand. He made Mark feel this way. He knew that he made Mark hot and bothered, that was obvious, but actually seeing it? Feeling it? Wow. 

He jerked him off nice and slow, watching Mark’s face break out into pure bliss. He stared back at Tom with half-lidded eyes and kissed back eagerly when Tom leaned in. He gradually sped up his strokes, making Mark break away from the kiss with a moan. God, Tom had to make him do that again.

“Cum for me.” Tom breathed, “You’re so close, Mark, cum for me.”

“God,” Mark moaned again, “do you hear yourself? Fuck.”

“I can hear you. So fucking hot.” He said in a rushed voice, jerking him off hard and fast.

“Ahh,” he drew out, reaching up to grip Tom’s shoulder, “Shit, Tommy,  _ shit _ .”

Mark came for an eternity, Tom touching him through the whole thing. His hand was covered in spunk by the end of it but he didn’t care. He just made Mark cum like a fucking freight train just from jerking him off. He couldn’t wait till they had more time to try something else. 

When he caught his breath, he kissed Tom’s jaw and reached over the side of the bed, handing Tom an old t-shirt to wipe his hand on. He threw the shirt back on the floor when he was done and yeah it was gross but he didn’t have time to care because Mark was kissing him again soon after. It was sweet and slow and close-mouthed. He wrapped Tom up in his arms and held on tight. With a free hand, Mark held one of Tom’s hands, tracing patterns onto the back of it with his thumb.

“I wish you could spend the night. The whole night.” He told Tom, “I wanna just keep you sometimes.”

“Keep me?”

“Yeah. Keep you.” He squeezed him briefly, “You’re warm and you smell good and I just… God, I just really like you. So fucking much.”

Tom giggled, “I really like you, too, Mark. You’re my favorite.”

“Your favorite.” He repeated and Tom didn’t have to look at him in order to know he was smiling, too, “You’re  _ my _ favorite.”

“Better be,” Tom mumbled and Mark laughed, planting a kiss onto the top of his head.

“When do you have to be home?” 

“Midnight.”

“Can I keep you here till then?” He asked quietly even though they were the only ones home.

Tom said, “You can keep me for as long as you want,” even though he knew there was a time limit on how long ‘as long as you want’ could be.

…

It had started out pretty innocent, Tom leaning against the skatepark’s chain link fence with Mark beside him, but soon enough, he was pinned to said fence, making out with Mark. Travis and the others were a few feet away making obscene noises at them and shouting far worse things. Tom didn’t care, though, kissing Mark back with the same intensity he provided. 

Mark leaned back and brushed his thumb against Tom’s bottom lip, “Can’t get enough of you.”

“Mark, we’re in public!” He gaped at him, more surprised than anything.

“Like you aren’t thinking the same thing.” He countered.

Playfully, he pushed Mark away. Unfortunately, pushing him away gave him a full view of what was behind him. 

Brandi and Carmen approaching, hand in hand.

Tom tapped Mark, urging him to look, too, and when he did, he sighed. 

“Hey,” Tom said when they finally made it to them.

Brandi grimaced and said, “Hey. I’m really sorry.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She huffed and let go of Carmen’s hand, “I know you wanted to go to the dance with me and I just totally ditched you.”

“I did, yeah. I was really upset about that.” He crossed his arms, “And like I’m glad you and your girlfriend got everything settled between you two but that was my last dance in high school, Brandi. You’re like my best friend; I wanted to spend it with you.”

“That’s sweet.” Carmen said and raised her hands up defensively when Brandi shot her a look, “It is!”

“It is.” Mark agreed.

Tom ignored them, “I forgive you and all but it was a shit move.”

“It was. Which is why we’re here.” Brandi explained.

Carmen put her arm around her girlfriend’s shoulders, “We wanna take you out for dinner. On us.”

Tom blinked, “Really?”

“Where at?” Mark questioned.

“Anywhere you want. Consider it a peace offering.” Carmen smiled, “I feel like we kind of got off on the wrong foot and I wanna make it up to you.”

“Even if it’s that really nice Mexican food place downtown?” Tom said.

“Even if.” She agreed.

Mark and Tom shared the briefest look and Mark said, “Alright. Who’s driving?”

They ended up in the back of Carmen’s minivan that vaguely smelled like sage, talking about everything. Brandi had officially moved in with Travis’s girlfriend and it sounded like her mom was considering divorcing her father. She sounded almost excited about it. Tom wished he had the same excitement when his parents split.

Carmen, as much as Tom wanted to hate her, turned out to be just a genuinely sweet person. She talked a bit about her job at the library and offered free computer passes for them should they ever drop by during the day.

“Just don’t look up any sketchy URLs, okay? We don’t have a safety block set up yet.” She had told them, turning to give them a sly look.

And Brandi seemed happy, too. Tom would catch the two of them smiling at each other every now and then. At one point, Carmen reached over and held her hand as she drove. It was sweet. 

Mark had taken to putting his legs on Tom’s lap, leaning back and chatting with the girls up front. He was so ridiculous but God, Tom loved it. The word didn’t seem so foreign to him anymore - love. He was just waiting for the right time to tell Mark. It just wasn’t quite yet. Instead of saying it, he just let the feeling burn in his chest for a moment, squeezing Mark’s thigh and smiling back when Mark looked at him.

When they made it to the restaurant, Carmen and Mark broke off to talk about music, it sounded like, giving Brandi the opportunity to snag Tom by the arm and ask him:

“You totally got laid after the dance, didn’t you.” 

“Brandi!” He shushed her, blushing.

“Oh my God!” She laughed, “You have got to tell me everything.”

“Not now, holy fuck.” He chuckled, catching Mark’s eye as they trailed after them into the building.

Tom was given a surreptitious wink and he rolled his eyes in reply, their secret moment interrupted by the waiter telling them to follow him to their booth.


End file.
